First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Announces Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.05 EPS

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The bank reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05, Briefing.com reports. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 19.67% and a return on equity of 10.81%. The company had revenue of $314.22 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $203.50 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.72 EPS.

First Financial Bancorp. Trading Up 3.8 %

FFBC stock traded up $1.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $28.09. 672,167 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 451,077. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. First Financial Bancorp. has a 52-week low of $17.23 and a 52-week high of $28.23. The company has a market cap of $2.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.33 and a beta of 1.01. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $22.77 and its 200-day moving average is $22.44.

First Financial Bancorp. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. This is a positive change from First Financial Bancorp.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.42%. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Financial Bancorp.

In other First Financial Bancorp. news, insider Richard S. Dennen sold 10,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.64, for a total transaction of $248,220.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 93,152 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,202,113.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 2.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $24.00 price objective on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th.

About First Financial Bancorp.

First Financial Bancorp. operates as the bank holding company for First Financial Bank that provides commercial banking and related services to individuals and businesses in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, and Illinois. The company offers checking, savings, and money-market accounts; and accepts various deposit products, such as interest-bearing and non-interest-bearing accounts, time deposits, and cash management services for commercial customers.