First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Receives $30.50 Consensus PT from Analysts

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $30.50.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on FFBC. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on First Financial Bancorp. from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings raised First Financial Bancorp. from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on First Financial Bancorp. from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Hovde Group upped their target price on First Financial Bancorp. from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Karen B. Woods sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.28, for a total transaction of $302,800.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 63,954 shares in the company, valued at $1,936,527.12. The trade was a 13.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Richard S. Dennen sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.20, for a total transaction of $604,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 61,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,868,051.20. This represents a 24.43% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 55,141 shares of company stock valued at $1,585,829. Corporate insiders own 1.13% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of First Financial Bancorp.

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FFBC. Bogart Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. in the third quarter valued at $25,000. First Horizon Corp acquired a new position in First Financial Bancorp. during the third quarter valued at $25,000. MAI Capital Management lifted its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 530.6% in the 3rd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 1,545 shares of the bank’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 38.7% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,743 shares of the bank’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 486 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 2,741.3% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,790 shares of the bank’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 1,727 shares during the period. 77.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Financial Bancorp. Trading Down 0.5%

NASDAQ:FFBC opened at $27.12 on Friday. First Financial Bancorp. has a 1 year low of $21.10 and a 1 year high of $31.38. The stock has a market cap of $2.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.20 and a beta of 0.97. The business has a fifty day moving average of $27.96 and a 200-day moving average of $26.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.02. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 20.30% and a return on equity of 10.77%. The business had revenue of $251.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $249.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.71 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

First Financial Bancorp. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.59%.

About First Financial Bancorp.

First Financial Bancorp (NASDAQ: FFBC) is a bank holding company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the parent of First Financial Bank. The company provides a comprehensive suite of commercial and consumer banking services through a network of more than 100 full-service banking centers and mortgage offices across Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky. Its core mission centers on delivering personalized relationship banking to businesses, individuals and public sector clients.

First Financial Bank’s product portfolio includes deposit solutions such as checking, savings and money market accounts, alongside a range of lending offerings that cover commercial and industrial loans, real estate and construction financing, home mortgages and home equity lines of credit.