First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eight ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $33.6667.

Several brokerages have recently commented on FFBC. Raymond James Financial lifted their target price on First Financial Bancorp. from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of First Financial Bancorp. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a report on Monday, June 8th.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Performance

Shares of FFBC stock opened at $32.82 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.60 and a beta of 0.92. First Financial Bancorp. has a one year low of $23.06 and a one year high of $36.24. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The bank reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.02. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 11.13% and a net margin of 20.77%.The firm had revenue of $264.17 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $270.29 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.74 earnings per share. First Financial Bancorp.’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that First Financial Bancorp. will post 3.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Financial Bancorp. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. This is a boost from First Financial Bancorp.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. First Financial Bancorp.’s payout ratio is currently 36.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Financial Bancorp.

In other First Financial Bancorp. news, Director Thomas Murray Obrien sold 16,088 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.77, for a total value of $527,203.76. Following the transaction, the director owned 30,392 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $995,945.84. This trade represents a 34.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO James M. Anderson sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 114,537 shares in the company, valued at $3,863,333.01. The trade was a 3.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 32,788 shares of company stock worth $1,063,656 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Financial Bancorp.

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 55.0% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 97,727 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,441,000 after acquiring an additional 34,676 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 56,205 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,404,000 after purchasing an additional 2,458 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 589,799 shares of the bank’s stock worth $14,733,000 after purchasing an additional 22,227 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 571.4% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 7,412 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $185,000 after purchasing an additional 6,308 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 6.0% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 318,298 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,951,000 after purchasing an additional 17,911 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.