Brokerages Set First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) PT at $33.67

Shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBCGet Free Report) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $33.6667.

FFBC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a report on Monday, June 8th. Wall Street Zen cut First Financial Bancorp. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised their price target on First Financial Bancorp. from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st.

Get Our Latest Stock Report on FFBC

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Archie M. Brown sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.93, for a total transaction of $309,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 243,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,539,434.94. This represents a 3.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Scott T. Crawley sold 2,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.16, for a total value of $92,232.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 22,711 shares in the company, valued at approximately $775,807.76. This represents a 10.63% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 32,788 shares of company stock worth $1,063,656. 1.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of First Financial Bancorp.

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FFBC. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new stake in First Financial Bancorp. during the second quarter worth about $2,085,000. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 3,187.9% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 4,107,063 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $138,942,000 after purchasing an additional 3,982,149 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in First Financial Bancorp. in the 2nd quarter valued at about $253,000. iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new stake in First Financial Bancorp. during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $315,000. Finally, Nykredit A S bought a new position in First Financial Bancorp. during the 2nd quarter valued at $55,000. 77.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Up 2.0%

FFBC stock opened at $32.67 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.54 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. First Financial Bancorp. has a twelve month low of $23.06 and a twelve month high of $36.24. The company’s 50 day moving average is $33.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.06.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBCGet Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The bank reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.02. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 20.77% and a return on equity of 11.13%. The business had revenue of $264.17 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $270.29 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.74 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that First Financial Bancorp. will post 3.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Financial Bancorp. Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 1st. This is an increase from First Financial Bancorp.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio is 36.75%.

First Financial Bancorp. Company Profile

(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.

Featured Stories

Analyst Recommendations for First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC)

Receive News & Ratings for First Financial Bancorp. Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for First Financial Bancorp. and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.