First Financial Bancorp. (FFBC) – What Are Brokerages Thinking About This Stock?

by · The Markets Daily

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC – Get Free Report) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the seven analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $34.00.

A number of research firms recently commented on FFBC. Raymond James Financial lifted their price target 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. Truist Financial raised shares of First Financial Bancorp. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $35.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 24th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research report on Friday, September 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of First Financial Bancorp. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th.

Get Our Latest Analysis on FFBC

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Up 2.6%

Shares of FFBC opened at $32.47 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The business has a fifty day moving average of $32.16 and a 200 day moving average of $32.01. The company has a market cap of $3.41 billion, a PE ratio of 11.47 and a beta of 0.93. First Financial Bancorp. has a 52-week low of $23.06 and a 52-week high of $36.24.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The bank reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.02. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 20.77% and a return on equity of 11.13%. The business had revenue of $264.17 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $270.29 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.74 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that First Financial Bancorp. will post 3.18 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Thomas O’Brien sold 16,088 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.77, for a total value of $527,203.76. Following the sale, the director directly owned 30,392 shares in the company, valued at approximately $995,945.84. This represents a 34.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Scott T. Crawley sold 2,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $775,807.76. This represents a 10.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 27,788 shares of company stock valued at $919,006. Corporate insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of First Financial Bancorp.

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FFBC. Waverly Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 0.8% during the first quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 46,429 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,294,000 after purchasing an additional 376 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,736 shares of the bank’s stock worth $383,000 after buying an additional 381 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 137.6% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 991 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 574 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in First Financial Bancorp. in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. lifted its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. now owns 28,273 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $788,000 after buying an additional 861 shares in the last quarter. 77.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

First Financial Bancorp. Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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 organizations.

First Financial Bank offers commercial and consumer lending, deposit accounts, treasury management, cash management and other traditional banking products. Its services also include wealth management, investment services and mortgage-related solutions, helping customers manage borrowing, deposits, payments and longer-term financial needs.

The company serves communities primarily in Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky through a network of banking offices and digital banking channels.

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