First Financial Bancorp. (FFBC) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.25 on March 16th

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, January 28th. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd will be paid a dividend of 0.25 per share by the bank on Monday, March 16th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 2nd.

First Financial Bancorp. has raised its dividend payment by an average of 0.0%per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 1 years. First Financial Bancorp. has a payout ratio of 36.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect First Financial Bancorp. to earn $2.77 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 36.1%.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FFBC opened at $28.80 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89. First Financial Bancorp. has a fifty-two week low of $21.10 and a fifty-two week high of $29.21. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.32. The company has a market capitalization of $2.84 billion, a PE ratio of 10.83 and a beta of 0.99.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 10.99%. The firm had revenue of $251.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $249.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.71 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FFBC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $28.00 price objective (down from $30.00) on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Zacks Research cut First Financial Bancorp. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Friday. Finally, Hovde Group increased their price target on First Financial Bancorp. from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $30.00.

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.