First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The bank reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.81 by ($0.01), FiscalAI reports. The firm had revenue of $264.17 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $270.29 million. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 20.92% and a return on equity of 11.09%.

First Financial Bancorp. Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FFBC traded up $0.19 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $35.67. 1,479,338 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 974,108. First Financial Bancorp. has a fifty-two week low of $23.06 and a fifty-two week high of $36.24. The firm has a market cap of $3.74 billion, a PE ratio of 12.60 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $29.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

First Financial Bancorp. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on FFBC. Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on First Financial Bancorp. from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on First Financial Bancorp. from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target 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. Finally, Stephens started coverage on First Financial Bancorp. in a report on Friday, March 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $33.00 price target on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other First Financial Bancorp. news, insider Claude E. Davis sold 26,123 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.45, for a total value of $795,445.35. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 30,410 shares in the company, valued at $925,984.50. This represents a 46.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Archie M. Brown sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.93, for a total value of $309,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 243,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,539,434.94. The trade was a 3.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 41,126 shares of company stock worth $1,255,501 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,243,149 shares of the bank’s stock worth $156,205,000 after acquiring an additional 30,043 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,851,427 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $121,383,000 after acquiring an additional 354,833 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,374,365 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $59,415,000 after acquiring an additional 22,389 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 194.9% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,248,076 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $31,227,000 after purchasing an additional 824,920 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 15.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,176,252 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $29,430,000 after purchasing an additional 157,814 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.