Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Boosts First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Price Target to $31.00

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) had its price objective boosted by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $28.00 to $31.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a market perform rating on the bank’s stock.

First Financial Bancorp. Price Performance

NASDAQ:FFBC opened at $29.14 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $26.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.99. The company has a market cap of $2.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.56 and a beta of 1.01. First Financial Bancorp. has a 52-week low of $20.59 and a 52-week high of $31.18.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $302.82 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $214.00 million. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 10.32% and a net margin of 18.55%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.67 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Financial Bancorp. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Richard S. Dennen sold 932 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total transaction of $27,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 74,720 shares in the company, valued at $2,241,600. The trade was a 1.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider James R. Shank sold 3,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.34, for a total value of $97,458.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $404,951.16. This represents a 19.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,700 shares of company stock valued at $335,429 over the last 90 days. 2.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Financial Bancorp.

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Financial Management Professionals Inc. bought a new stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. during the third quarter worth $30,000. Bogart Wealth LLC increased 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 worth $50,000 after buying an additional 1,935 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 23.1% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,340 shares of the bank’s stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 627 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. during the second quarter worth $77,000. 77.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

First Financial Bancorp. Company Profile

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.