First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Earns Sector Perform Rating from Royal Bank Of Canada

Royal Bank Of Canada restated their sector perform rating on shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $27.00 target price on the bank’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on FFBC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. They set a “hold” rating and a $27.00 target price for the company.

First Financial Bancorp. Trading Down 0.8%

First Financial Bancorp. stock opened at $24.07 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market cap of $2.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.99 and a beta of 0.97. First Financial Bancorp. has a 1 year low of $21.10 and a 1 year high of $31.18. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $23.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $25.51.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The bank reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.63. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 18.65% and a return on equity of 10.44%. The firm had revenue of $201.59 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $214.80 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.59 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Financial Bancorp. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.99%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 2nd. First Financial Bancorp.’s payout ratio is presently 39.83%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Financial Bancorp.

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FFBC. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 511,868 shares of the bank’s stock worth $13,759,000 after acquiring an additional 20,636 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 3,493.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 38,020 shares of the bank’s stock worth $950,000 after acquiring an additional 36,962 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,892,158 shares of the bank’s stock worth $292,781,000 after purchasing an additional 72,367 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,304,922 shares of the bank’s stock worth $35,076,000 after purchasing an additional 22,573 shares during the period. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 53,747 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,445,000 after acquiring an additional 2,070 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.23% of the company’s stock.

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.