First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Receives $33.33 Average PT from Analysts

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $33.6667.

FFBC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on First Financial Bancorp. from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Truist Financial increased their target price on First Financial Bancorp. from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Raymond James Financial raised their target price on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Stephens began coverage on shares of 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.

First Financial Bancorp. Trading Up 3.9%

FFBC opened at $36.18 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $32.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $29.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market cap of $3.80 billion, a PE ratio of 12.78 and a beta of 0.92. First Financial Bancorp. has a twelve month low of $23.06 and a twelve month high of $36.25.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $265.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $257.97 million. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 20.92% and a return on equity of 11.09%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.63 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that First Financial Bancorp. will post 3.28 EPS for the current year.

First Financial Bancorp. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. First Financial Bancorp.’s payout ratio is currently 35.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other First Financial Bancorp. news, insider Claude E. Davis sold 26,123 shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.45, for a total value of $795,445.35. Following the sale, the insider owned 30,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $925,984.50. This trade represents a 46.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Archie M. Brown sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.93, for a total value of $309,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 243,758 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,539,434.94. This trade represents a 3.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 41,126 shares of company stock valued at $1,255,501. Company insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FFBC. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 137.6% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 991 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 574 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Corp boosted its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 56.0% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 1,526 shares of the bank’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 548 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 38.7% during 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. Smithfield Trust Co bought a new position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $50,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 21.7% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,036 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 541 shares during the last quarter. 77.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.