First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Research Coverage Started at Stephens

Stephens began coverage on shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) in a research report sent to investors on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued an overweight rating and a $33.00 price objective on the bank’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Weiss Ratings raised First Financial Bancorp. from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Hovde Group lifted their price target on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.17.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Performance

NASDAQ FFBC opened at $27.25 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $28.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $26.31. First Financial Bancorp. has a twelve month low of $21.10 and a twelve month high of $31.38. The company has a market capitalization of $2.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.24 and a beta of 0.97.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $251.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $249.00 million. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 10.77% and a net margin of 20.30%.During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.71 EPS. Research analysts forecast that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Financial Bancorp. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. First Financial Bancorp.’s payout ratio is presently 37.59%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Karen B. Woods sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.28, for a total value of $302,800.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 63,954 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,936,527.12. This trade represents a 13.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Gregory A. Harris sold 1,821 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.43, for a total value of $53,592.03. Following the transaction, the insider owned 42,431 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,248,744.33. This represents a 4.12% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 32,141 shares of company stock valued at $969,429. Insiders own 1.13% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Financial Bancorp.

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FFBC. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 55.0% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 97,727 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,441,000 after buying an additional 34,676 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 4.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 56,205 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,404,000 after acquiring an additional 2,458 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 3.9% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 589,799 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $14,733,000 after acquiring an additional 22,227 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 571.4% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 7,412 shares of the bank’s stock worth $185,000 after acquiring an additional 6,308 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 6.0% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 318,298 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,951,000 after acquiring an additional 17,911 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.23% of the company’s stock.

About First Financial Bancorp.

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.