First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Hits New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

by · The Markets Daily

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC – Get Free Report)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $35.01 and last traded at $34.8570, with a volume of 638166 shares. The stock had previously closed at $34.23.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on FFBC. Stephens assumed coverage on First Financial Bancorp. in a report on Friday, March 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $33.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on First Financial Bancorp. from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on First Financial Bancorp. from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Raymond James Financial lifted their target price on First Financial Bancorp. from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.67.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on FFBC

First Financial Bancorp. Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $3.66 billion, a PE ratio of 12.30 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $265.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $257.97 million. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 11.09% and a net margin of 20.92%.During the same period last year, the company earned $0.63 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that First Financial Bancorp. will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current year.

First Financial Bancorp. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. First Financial Bancorp.’s payout ratio is currently 35.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Financial Bancorp.

In other First Financial Bancorp. news, insider Claude E. Davis sold 26,123 shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.45, for a total value of $795,445.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 30,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $925,984.50. The trade was a 46.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Archie M. Brown sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.93, for a total transaction of $309,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 243,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,539,434.94. This trade represents a 3.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 41,126 shares of company stock valued at $1,255,501. Corporate insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of First Financial Bancorp.

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 557.5% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,042,913 shares of the bank’s stock worth $56,956,000 after purchasing an additional 1,732,223 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. purchased a new position in First Financial Bancorp. in the 1st quarter valued at about $34,058,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 824,920 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,617,522 shares of the bank’s stock worth $184,493,000 after buying an additional 374,373 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 67.2% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 907,478 shares of the bank’s stock worth $22,705,000 after buying an additional 364,597 shares in the last quarter. 77.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About First Financial Bancorp.

(Get Free Report)

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.

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