Analysts Set First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) PT at $29.50

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $29.50.

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Zacks Research downgraded shares of First Financial Bancorp. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $28.00 price objective (down from $30.00) on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a report on Monday, October 27th. Hovde Group assumed coverage on First Financial Bancorp. in a report on Monday, October 6th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research report on Monday.

Insider Transactions at First Financial Bancorp.

In other First Financial Bancorp. news, CEO Archie M. Brown sold 11,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.80, for a total value of $308,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 229,391 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,147,678.80. The trade was a 4.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. First Horizon Corp purchased a new stake in First Financial Bancorp. during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Bogart Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. during the third quarter worth $25,000. MAI Capital Management lifted 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 valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 2,741.3% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,790 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 1,727 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Consulate Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. in the 3rd quarter worth $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.23% of the company’s stock.

First Financial Bancorp. Price Performance

Shares of FFBC stock opened at $25.80 on Monday. First Financial Bancorp. has a twelve month low of $21.10 and a twelve month high of $29.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $24.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.55 and a beta of 1.00.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The bank reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $234.01 million for the quarter. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 10.72% and a net margin of 20.64%. On average, analysts predict that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Financial Bancorp. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 1st. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.04%.

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.