First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Price Target Raised to $33.00 at Truist Financial

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) had its price target upped by Truist Financial from $30.00 to $33.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a hold rating on the bank’s stock.

FFBC has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Stephens assumed coverage on First Financial Bancorp. in a report on Friday, March 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $33.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on First Financial Bancorp. from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Hovde Group boosted their price target on First Financial Bancorp. from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings upgraded First Financial Bancorp. from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on First Financial Bancorp. from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.00.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:FFBC opened at $30.75 on Monday. First Financial Bancorp. has a 1 year low of $22.63 and a 1 year high of $31.38. The company has a market cap of $3.23 billion, a PE ratio of 10.87 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $28.43 and its 200 day moving average is $26.80.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.07. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 11.09% and a net margin of 20.92%.The company had revenue of $265.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $257.97 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.63 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that First Financial Bancorp. will post 3.04 EPS for the current year.

First Financial Bancorp. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Richard S. Dennen sold 20,000 shares of the company’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 value of $604,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 61,856 shares in the company, valued at $1,868,051.20. This represents a 24.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Gregory A. Harris sold 1,821 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.43, for a total value 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. The trade was a 4.12% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 32,141 shares of company stock worth $969,429 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.13% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Financial Bancorp.

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FFBC. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 55.0% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 97,727 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,441,000 after acquiring an additional 34,676 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 56,205 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,404,000 after acquiring an additional 2,458 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 589,799 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $14,733,000 after acquiring an additional 22,227 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 571.4% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 7,412 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $185,000 after acquiring an additional 6,308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 318,298 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,951,000 after acquiring an additional 17,911 shares in the last quarter. 77.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.