First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

Posted by on Jul 22nd, 2026

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC – Get Free Report) shares gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $35.67, but opened at $33.24. First Financial Bancorp. shares last traded at $33.5080, with a volume of 241,412 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of 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. Wall Street Zen downgraded First Financial Bancorp. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on First Financial Bancorp. from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Stephens began coverage on First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Friday, March 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $33.00 price objective on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.67.

Check Out Our Latest Report on First Financial Bancorp.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Performance

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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.77. The stock has a market cap of $3.52 billion, a PE ratio of 11.83 and a beta of 0.92.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The bank reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.02. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 20.92% and a return on equity of 11.09%. The company had revenue of $264.17 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $270.29 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.74 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that First Financial Bancorp. will post 3.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Financial Bancorp. Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 1st. This is a positive change from First Financial Bancorp.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other First Financial Bancorp. news, insider Claude E. Davis sold 26,123 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.45, for a total value of $795,445.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 30,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $925,984.50. This represents a 46.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Archie M. Brown sold 10,000 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 243,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,539,434.94. This represents a 3.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 41,126 shares of company stock valued at $1,255,501 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FFBC. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in First Financial Bancorp. in the fourth quarter valued at about $936,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,309,205 shares of the bank’s stock worth $32,756,000 after purchasing an additional 42,116 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 174.7% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 72,244 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,808,000 after purchasing an additional 45,943 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,929,185 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $273,448,000 after purchasing an additional 215,357 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 114.5% during the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 84,595 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,117,000 after buying an additional 45,149 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.23% of the company’s stock.

About First Financial Bancorp.

(Get Free Report)

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.

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