First Financial Bancorp.’s (FFBC) Sector Perform Rating Reiterated at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed their sector perform rating on shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) in a research note released on Monday,Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has a $30.00 price objective on the bank’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $33.00 price objective on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday.

First Financial Bancorp. Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FFBC opened at $27.66 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $2.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.92 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $26.62. First Financial Bancorp. has a one year low of $20.59 and a one year high of $31.18.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.06. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 18.55% and a return on equity of 10.32%. Research analysts predict that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Financial Bancorp. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other First Financial Bancorp. news, insider Scott T. Crawley sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.31, for a total value of $87,930.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,279 shares in the company, valued at approximately $565,067.49. This trade represents a 13.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Richard S. Dennen sold 4,068 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.01, for a total transaction of $122,080.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 70,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,120,266.52. The trade was a 5.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 8,000 shares of company stock valued at $237,971 over the last quarter. Insiders own 2.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Financial Bancorp.

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of FFBC. Financial Management Professionals Inc. acquired a new position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. during the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. during the third quarter valued at about $30,000. ORG Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Bogart Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 2,976.9% during the third quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 2,000 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 1,935 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kentucky Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. during the fourth quarter valued at about $76,000. 77.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About First Financial Bancorp.

First Financial Bancorp. operates as the bank holding company for First Financial Bank that provides commercial banking and related services to individuals and businesses in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, and Illinois. The company offers checking, savings, and money-market accounts; and accepts various deposit products, such as interest-bearing and non-interest-bearing accounts, time deposits, and cash management services for commercial customers.