Stephens Reaffirms Equal Weight Rating for First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Apr 25th, 2023

Stephens reiterated their equal weight rating on shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC – Get Rating) in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. Stephens currently has a $24.00 target price on the bank’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. StockNews.com initiated coverage on First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a hold rating on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on First Financial Bancorp. from $26.00 to $23.00 and set a market perform rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 6th.

First Financial Bancorp. Price Performance

FFBC stock opened at $20.55 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $22.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.87 and a beta of 1.06. First Financial Bancorp. has a 1 year low of $18.75 and a 1 year high of $26.72.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 21st. The bank reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.06. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 27.92% and a return on equity of 12.31%. The company had revenue of $264.12 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $202.70 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.46 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 70.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Financial Bancorp. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 1st were paid a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 28th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.48%. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other First Financial Bancorp. news, insider Claude E. Davis sold 25,000 shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.55, for a total transaction of $638,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 75,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,939,398.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 2.11% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of First Financial Bancorp.

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Belpointe Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. CWM LLC increased its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 80.7% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,756 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 784 shares during the period. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 72.4% during the 1st quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,767 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 742 shares during the last quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. purchased a new position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. in the second quarter valued at approximately $82,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.35% of the company’s stock.

About First Financial Bancorp.

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First Financial Bancorp operates as a bank holding company. The firm operates through its wholly owned subsidiary, First Financial Bank, which engages in the provision of commercial banking, financial and other related activities. It operates through the following business lines: Commercial, Retail Banking, Mortgage Banking, Wealth Management, Investment Commercial Real Estate, and Commercial Finance.