First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Stock Has Consensus Price Target of $33.67

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eight analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $34.00.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Raymond James Financial raised their price objective on First Financial Bancorp. from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research report on Friday, September 4th. Wall Street Zen downgraded First Financial Bancorp. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Truist Financial raised shares of First Financial Bancorp. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $35.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 24th.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Thomas O’Brien sold 16,088 shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.77, for a total value of $527,203.76. Following the transaction, the director owned 30,392 shares in the company, valued at $995,945.84. This trade represents a 34.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Scott T. Crawley sold 2,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.16, for a total transaction of $92,232.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 22,711 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $775,807.76. This represents a 10.63% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 27,788 shares of company stock valued at $919,006. 1.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Financial Bancorp.

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Waverly Advisors LLC increased its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 46,429 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,294,000 after purchasing an additional 376 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 2.9% in the first quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,736 shares of the bank’s stock worth $383,000 after purchasing an additional 381 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 38.7% in the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,743 shares of the bank’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 486 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 574 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 23.5% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 4,053 shares of the bank’s stock worth $101,000 after purchasing an additional 772 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.23% of the company’s stock.

First Financial Bancorp. Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:FFBC opened at $31.45 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.30 billion, a PE ratio of 11.11 and a beta of 0.91. First Financial Bancorp. has a 1 year low of $23.06 and a 1 year high of $36.24. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $33.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.52.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The bank reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.02. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 11.13% and a net margin of 20.77%.The company had revenue of $264.17 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $270.29 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.74 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that First Financial Bancorp. will post 3.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Financial Bancorp. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 1st were paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 1st. This is a boost from First Financial Bancorp.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.75%.

First Financial Bancorp. Company Profile

First Financial Bancorp. is a bank holding company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. Through its principal subsidiary, First Financial Bank, the company provides banking and financial services to businesses, individuals, and community organizations.

First Financial Bank offers commercial and retail banking products, including business loans, commercial real estate financing, consumer lending, residential mortgage services, deposit accounts, treasury management, and online and mobile banking.