First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $31.1667.

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on First Financial Bancorp. from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Stephens assumed coverage on First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Friday, March 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $33.00 price target on the stock. Truist Financial increased their price target on First Financial Bancorp. from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of First Financial Bancorp. from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of 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.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Karen B. Woods sold 10,000 shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.28, for a total transaction of $302,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 63,954 shares in the company, valued at $1,936,527.12. This trade represents a 13.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Gregory A. Harris sold 1,821 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.43, for a total transaction of $53,592.03. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 42,431 shares in the company, valued at $1,248,744.33. This represents a 4.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 32,141 shares of company stock worth $969,429. Insiders own 1.13% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Financial Bancorp.

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,929,185 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $273,448,000 after purchasing an additional 215,357 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,243,149 shares of the bank’s stock worth $156,205,000 after buying an additional 30,043 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,851,427 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $121,383,000 after buying an additional 354,833 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,374,365 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $59,415,000 after buying an additional 22,389 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,309,205 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $32,756,000 after buying an additional 42,116 shares during the last quarter. 77.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First Financial Bancorp. Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of FFBC stock opened at $27.88 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.48 and a beta of 0.97. First Financial Bancorp. has a twelve month low of $21.10 and a twelve month high of $31.38. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $28.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.33.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $251.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $249.00 million. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 20.30% and a return on equity of 10.77%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.71 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Financial Bancorp. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.59%.

First Financial Bancorp. Company Profile

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.