First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Receives $30.50 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are presently 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 12-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $30.50.

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on FFBC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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 note on Friday, January 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective 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. Weiss Ratings raised First Financial Bancorp. from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Truist Financial increased 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. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $28.00 price target (down previously from $30.00) on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a report on Monday, October 27th.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of FFBC opened at $30.31 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $27.13 and its 200 day moving average is $25.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. First Financial Bancorp. has a 12-month low of $21.10 and a 12-month high of $31.38. The company has a market capitalization of $2.99 billion, a PE ratio of 11.39 and a beta of 1.00.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $251.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 period last year, the firm posted $0.71 EPS. Research analysts expect that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Financial Bancorp. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 2nd. First Financial Bancorp.’s payout ratio is currently 37.59%.

Insider Activity at First Financial Bancorp.

In other First Financial Bancorp. news, CEO Archie M. Brown sold 11,500 shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.80, for a total value of $308,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 229,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,147,678.80. This trade represents a 4.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Gregory A. Harris sold 1,821 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.43, for a total transaction of $53,592.03. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 44,821 shares of company stock valued at $1,273,992 over the last 90 days. 1.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Financial Bancorp.

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FFBC. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 194.9% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,248,076 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $31,227,000 after purchasing an additional 824,920 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 67.2% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 907,478 shares of the bank’s stock worth $22,705,000 after buying an additional 364,597 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,851,427 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $121,383,000 after acquiring an additional 354,833 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. in the first quarter valued at $5,714,000. Finally, Gator Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. in the 3rd quarter worth about $5,603,000. 77.23% of the stock is 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.