First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) was the target of a large decline in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totaling 2,337,746 shares, a decline of 24.3% from the December 31st total of 3,089,387 shares. Approximately 2.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 899,776 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.6 days. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 899,776 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.6 days. Approximately 2.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Insider Activity at First Financial Bancorp.

In related news, CEO Archie M. Brown sold 11,500 shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.80, for a total transaction of $308,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 229,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,147,678.80. This trade represents a 4.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.13% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Financial Bancorp.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on First Financial Bancorp. from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday. Hovde Group upped their price objective on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Zacks Research cut First Financial Bancorp. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of First Financial Bancorp. from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $28.00 price objective (down previously from $30.00) on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, First Financial Bancorp. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $30.33.

First Financial Bancorp. News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting First Financial Bancorp. this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Hovde Group raised its price target from $32 to $34 and assigned an “outperform” rating, signaling stronger analyst conviction and ~18% upside to the new target from current levels.
• Positive Sentiment: Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised its price target from $31 to $32 and maintained a “market perform” rating, adding incremental analyst support for the shares. KBW raises price target to $32 (TickerReport)
• Positive Sentiment: Company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.25 (annualized yield ~3.5%), reinforcing cash return to shareholders and supporting income-oriented investor interest.
• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results: FFBC reported record EPS ($0.80), beating estimates and showing margin strength; management highlighted synergies from recent acquisitions. First Financial Posts Record Earnings, Eyes Synergies (TipRanks)
• Positive Sentiment: Management set a 2026 organic loan-growth target of 6%–8% as integration of acquisitions advances — a clear growth objective that supports revenue and net-interest-income outlook. First Financial outlines 6%–8% loan growth target (Seeking Alpha)
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings call transcript and highlights are available for deeper color on guidance, expense synergies and loan pipeline; useful for investors modeling forward quarters. Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript (Seeking Alpha)
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage pieces and screens (e.g., dividend-focused write-ups) are spotlighting FFBC as an income candidate, which may attract longer-term dividend investors but has mixed short-term impact. Dividend-focused coverage (Zacks)
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue slightly missed Q4 estimates, which could temper near-term momentum despite the EPS beat — investors may be watching upcoming quarters for confirmation of revenue and loan-growth targets. FFBC Misses Q4 Revenue Estimates (Yahoo Finance)

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FFBC traded down $0.06 during trading on Friday, hitting $28.74. The company had a trading volume of 2,343,952 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,153,072. First Financial Bancorp. has a 12 month low of $21.10 and a 12 month high of $29.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.80 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.02. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 20.30% and a return on equity of 10.77%. The business had revenue of $251.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $249.00 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.71 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

First Financial Bancorp. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders 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 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 2nd. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio is 37.59%.

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.