First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Stock Crosses Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $31.01 and traded as high as $32.81. First Financial Bancorp. shares last traded at $32.73, with a volume of 402,723 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FFBC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James Financial lifted their target price on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a report on Monday, June 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of First Financial Bancorp. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on First Financial Bancorp. from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Four equities 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.com, First Financial Bancorp. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $33.67.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Up 0.3%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $33.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.45 billion, a PE ratio of 11.60 and a beta of 0.92.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The bank reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $264.17 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $270.29 million. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 11.13% and a net margin of 20.77%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.74 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that First Financial Bancorp. will post 3.22 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 1st. This is a positive change from First Financial Bancorp.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. First Financial Bancorp.’s payout ratio is presently 36.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Scott T. Crawley sold 2,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.16, for a total value of $92,232.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 22,711 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $775,807.76. This represents a 10.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO James M. Anderson sold 4,000 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 114,537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,863,333.01. This represents a 3.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 32,788 shares of company stock worth $1,063,656 over the last ninety days. 1.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Financial Bancorp.

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in First Financial Bancorp. in the 4th quarter valued at $936,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,309,205 shares of the bank’s stock worth $32,756,000 after purchasing an additional 42,116 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 38.1% during the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 124,914 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,483,000 after purchasing an additional 34,441 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 during the period. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC grew its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 114.5% in the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 84,595 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,117,000 after purchasing an additional 45,149 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.