First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Stock Has Consensus Target Price of $34.00

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $34.00.

FFBC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial raised First Financial Bancorp. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $35.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 24th. Raymond James Financial upped their price target on First Financial Bancorp. from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research report on Friday, September 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of First Financial Bancorp. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other First Financial Bancorp. news, insider Scott T. Crawley sold 2,700 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the insider directly owned 22,711 shares in the company, valued at $775,807.76. This represents a 10.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO James Anderson sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.73, for a total value of $134,920.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 114,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,863,333.01. This represents a 3.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 27,788 shares of company stock worth $919,006 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Financial Bancorp.

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FFBC. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 574 shares in the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new stake in First Financial Bancorp. during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in First Financial Bancorp. during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, Nykredit A S acquired a new stake in First Financial Bancorp. during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $55,000. Institutional investors own 77.23% of the company’s stock.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Performance

Shares of FFBC stock opened at $32.64 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. First Financial Bancorp. has a fifty-two week low of $23.06 and a fifty-two week high of $36.24. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $32.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.02. The firm has a market cap of $3.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.53 and a beta of 0.93.

About First Financial Bancorp.

First Financial Bancorp. is a bank holding company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. Through its principal subsidiary, First Financial Bank, the company provides banking and financial services to businesses, individuals and organizations.

First Financial Bank offers commercial and consumer lending, deposit accounts, treasury management, cash management and other traditional banking products. Its services also include wealth management, investment services and mortgage-related solutions, helping customers manage borrowing, deposits, payments and longer-term financial needs.

The company serves communities primarily in Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky through a network of banking offices and digital banking channels.