Stephens Initiates Coverage on First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC)

Stock analysts at Stephens began coverage on shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) in a research report issued on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm set an “overweight” rating and a $33.00 price target on the bank’s stock. Stephens’ price objective suggests a potential upside of 21.10% from the stock’s previous close.

FFBC has been the topic of a number of other reports. Truist Financial lifted their price target on First Financial Bancorp. from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on First Financial Bancorp. from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of First Financial Bancorp. from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Hovde Group boosted their target price on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.17.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:FFBC opened at $27.25 on Friday. First Financial Bancorp. has a 52-week low of $21.10 and a 52-week high of $31.38. The company has a market capitalization of $2.85 billion, a PE ratio of 10.24 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89. The company has a fifty day moving average of $28.36 and a 200-day moving average of $26.31.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $251.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $249.00 million. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 10.77% and a net margin of 20.30%.During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.71 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Gregory A. Harris sold 1,821 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the insider directly owned 42,431 shares in the company, valued at $1,248,744.33. This trade represents a 4.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Richard S. Dennen sold 20,000 shares of First Financial Bancorp. 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 61,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,868,051.20. This represents a 24.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 32,141 shares of company stock valued at $969,429. Company insiders own 1.13% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FFBC. First Horizon Corp bought a new stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 137.6% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 991 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 574 shares during the last quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC acquired a new position in First Financial Bancorp. in the third quarter valued at $25,000. MAI Capital Management lifted its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 530.6% in the third quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 1,545 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 1,300 shares during the period. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 38.7% during the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,743 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 486 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.23% of the company’s stock.

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.