First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Raises Dividend to $0.26 Per Share

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, July 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be given a dividend of 0.26 per share by the bank on Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 1st. This is a 4.0% increase from First Financial Bancorp.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25.

First Financial Bancorp. has raised its dividend payment by an average of 0.0%annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 1 consecutive years. First Financial Bancorp. has a dividend payout ratio of 36.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect First Financial Bancorp. to earn $3.40 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 29.4%.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FFBC opened at $35.67 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.74 billion, a PE ratio of 12.60 and a beta of 0.92. First Financial Bancorp. has a 52-week low of $23.06 and a 52-week high of $36.24.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The bank reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.02. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 11.09% and a net margin of 20.92%.The firm had revenue of $264.17 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $270.29 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.74 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that First Financial Bancorp. will post 3.28 EPS for the current year.

First Financial Bancorp. Company Profile

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.