First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $31.06 and last traded at $31.1420, with a volume of 73999 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $30.90.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FFBC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings raised First Financial Bancorp. from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price 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. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $28.00 price target (down from $30.00) on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Hovde Group increased their price objective 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $30.50.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.06 billion, a PE ratio of 11.69 and a beta of 1.00.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $251.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $249.00 million. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 20.30% and a return on equity of 10.77%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.71 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.64 EPS for the current year.

First Financial Bancorp. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 2nd. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio is 37.59%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Gregory A. Harris sold 1,821 shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.43, for a total value of $53,592.03. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 42,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,248,744.33. The trade was a 4.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Archie M. Brown sold 11,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.80, for a total value of $308,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 229,391 shares in the company, valued at $6,147,678.80. This represents a 4.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 44,821 shares of company stock worth $1,273,992 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.13% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,929,185 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $273,448,000 after purchasing an additional 215,357 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,340,113 shares of the bank’s stock worth $56,777,000 after buying an additional 10,470 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 12.4% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 945,401 shares of the bank’s stock worth $23,871,000 after buying an additional 104,550 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 22.7% during the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 786,319 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $19,076,000 after buying an additional 145,575 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 739,666 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $18,677,000 after buying an additional 32,822 shares in the last quarter. 77.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.