First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Coverage Initiated at Stephens
by Danessa Lincoln · The Markets DailyEquities researchers at Stephens initiated coverage on shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC – Get Free Report) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday. The firm set an “overweight” rating and a $33.00 price target on the bank’s stock. Stephens’ price target would indicate a potential upside of 20.11% from the company’s previous close.
Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Truist Financial upped their price objective on First Financial Bancorp. from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on First Financial Bancorp. from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Hovde Group increased 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, January 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of First Financial Bancorp. from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Four 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. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.17.
Check Out Our Latest Report on First Financial Bancorp.
First Financial Bancorp. Stock Performance
FFBC traded down $0.23 on Friday, hitting $27.47. 25,453 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 958,926. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $28.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.30. First Financial Bancorp. has a twelve month low of $21.10 and a twelve month high of $31.38. The firm has a market cap of $2.87 billion, a PE ratio of 10.38 and a beta of 0.97.
First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $251.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $249.00 million. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 10.77% and a net margin of 20.30%.During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.71 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In related news, insider Richard S. Dennen sold 20,000 shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.20, for a total transaction of $604,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 61,856 shares in the company, valued at $1,868,051.20. The trade was a 24.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Karen B. Woods sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.28, for a total transaction of $302,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 63,954 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,936,527.12. The trade was a 13.52% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 32,141 shares of company stock worth $969,429. 1.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Financial Bancorp.
Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of FFBC. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 194.9% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,248,076 shares of the bank’s stock worth $31,227,000 after acquiring an additional 824,920 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 67.2% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 907,478 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $22,705,000 after acquiring an additional 364,597 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,851,427 shares of the bank’s stock worth $121,383,000 after purchasing an additional 354,833 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new stake in First Financial Bancorp. during the first quarter worth approximately $5,714,000. Finally, Gator Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in First Financial Bancorp. in the third quarter worth approximately $5,603,000. 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.