First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Stock Has Consensus Price Target of $33.67

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $34.00.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on FFBC. Truist Financial upgraded shares of First Financial Bancorp. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $35.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Thursday. Raymond James Financial boosted their price target on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of First Financial Bancorp. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a report on Friday, September 4th.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Up 2.7%

Shares of NASDAQ FFBC opened at $32.40 on Wednesday. First Financial Bancorp. has a one year low of $23.06 and a one year high of $36.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $33.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.40 billion, a PE ratio of 11.45 and a beta of 0.91.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The bank reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $264.17 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $270.29 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.74 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that First Financial Bancorp. will post 3.22 EPS for the current year.

First Financial Bancorp. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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 other news, CEO Archie M. Brown sold 5,000 shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.93, for a total value of $164,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 238,758 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,862,300.94. The trade was a 2.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Scott T. Crawley sold 2,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.16, for a total value of $92,232.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 22,711 shares in the company, valued at $775,807.76. This trade represents a 10.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 27,788 shares of company stock worth $919,006. Insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Financial Bancorp.

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FFBC. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 10.2% in the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 24,947 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $844,000 after acquiring an additional 2,306 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. during the 2nd quarter valued at about $47,000. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 2.4% during the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 53,876 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,823,000 after purchasing an additional 1,257 shares in the last quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 43.8% during the second quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 66,768 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,259,000 after purchasing an additional 20,339 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nykredit A S bought a new position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. in the second quarter worth approximately $55,000. 77.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About First Financial Bancorp.

First Financial Bancorp. is a bank holding company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. Through its principal subsidiary, First Financial Bank, the company provides banking and financial services to businesses, individuals, and community organizations.

First Financial Bank offers commercial and retail banking products, including business loans, commercial real estate financing, consumer lending, residential mortgage services, deposit accounts, treasury management, and online and mobile banking.