First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Saturday.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $34.00 price target on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research report on Monday, April 27th. 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. Stephens assumed coverage on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research report on Friday, March 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $33.00 price target for the company. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.00.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Up 1.0%

FFBC opened at $30.85 on Friday. First Financial Bancorp. has a twelve month low of $22.93 and a twelve month high of $31.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $29.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.96. The company has a market cap of $3.24 billion, a PE ratio of 10.90 and a beta of 0.93.

Insider Transactions at First Financial Bancorp.

In other First Financial Bancorp. news, insider Claude E. Davis sold 26,123 shares of the 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 sale, the insider owned 30,410 shares in the company, valued at approximately $925,984.50. This represents a 46.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO James M. Anderson sold 4,263 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total transaction of $127,890.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 118,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,556,110. The trade was a 3.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 31,126 shares of company stock valued at $946,201. 1.08% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of First Financial Bancorp.

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FFBC. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 137.6% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 991 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 574 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Corp increased its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 56.0% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 1,526 shares of the bank’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 548 shares during the last quarter. MAI Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 530.6% during the 3rd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 1,545 shares of the bank’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 1,300 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 38.7% during the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,743 shares of the bank’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 486 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smithfield Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.23% of the company’s stock.

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.