Brokerages Set First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Price Target at $31.17

Shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eight analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $31.1667.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on FFBC. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on First Financial Bancorp. from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on First Financial Bancorp. from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Hovde Group boosted their target price on First Financial Bancorp. from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Stephens began coverage on First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Friday, March 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $33.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded First Financial Bancorp. from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th.

First Financial Bancorp. Price Performance

Shares of FFBC opened at $28.44 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. First Financial Bancorp. has a 1 year low of $21.47 and a 1 year high of $31.38. The stock has a market cap of $2.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.69 and a beta of 0.94. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $28.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.42.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last issued its earnings results 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. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 10.77% and a net margin of 20.30%.The firm had revenue of $251.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $249.00 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.71 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

First Financial Bancorp. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. First Financial Bancorp.’s payout ratio is presently 37.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Financial Bancorp.

In other First Financial Bancorp. news, insider Richard S. Dennen sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.20, for a total value of $604,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 61,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,868,051.20. The trade was a 24.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Gregory A. Harris sold 1,821 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.43, for a total value of $53,592.03. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 42,431 shares in the company, valued at $1,248,744.33. The trade was a 4.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 32,141 shares of company stock worth $969,429. Corporate insiders own 1.13% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Financial Bancorp.

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 26,260 shares of the bank’s stock worth $657,000 after purchasing an additional 389 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 14.2% during the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 3,309 shares of the bank’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 19.4% during the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,903 shares of the bank’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 472 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 28,308 shares of the bank’s stock worth $715,000 after purchasing an additional 481 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 486 shares during the last quarter. 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.