First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the eight research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $29.50.

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings lowered First Financial Bancorp. from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $28.00 target price (down previously from $30.00) on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a report on Monday, October 27th. Hovde Group began coverage on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a report on Monday, October 6th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Zacks Research cut First Financial Bancorp. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on First Financial Bancorp. from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Down 0.9%

First Financial Bancorp. stock opened at $26.42 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $25.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.22. The firm has a market cap of $2.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.79 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick 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.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The bank reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 10.72% and a net margin of 20.64%.The business had revenue of $234.01 million for the quarter. As a group, analysts forecast that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

First Financial Bancorp. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 1st. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Financial Bancorp.

In other news, CEO Archie M. Brown sold 11,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.80, for a total value of $308,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 229,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,147,678.80. This represents a 4.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FFBC. Palisades Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Palisades Investment Partners LLC now owns 153,296 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,835,000 after acquiring an additional 3,442 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,537 shares of the bank’s stock worth $114,000 after purchasing an additional 660 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 13,737 shares of the bank’s stock worth $345,000 after purchasing an additional 1,228 shares during the last quarter. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. in the fourth quarter valued at about $297,000. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 45,514 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,139,000 after acquiring an additional 1,020 shares during the period. 77.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.