First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Upgraded to “Hold” by StockNews.com

Posted by on Jul 19th, 2023

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC – Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Wednesday.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler raised First Financial Bancorp. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $23.00 to $24.00 in a research note on Monday, July 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on First Financial Bancorp. from $26.00 to $23.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 6th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $24.00 target price on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Friday, April 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $24.00.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Up 3.2 %

NASDAQ FFBC opened at $23.05 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $20.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $22.14. First Financial Bancorp. has a one year low of $17.99 and a one year high of $26.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89. The company has a market cap of $2.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.83 and a beta of 1.07.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 21st. The bank reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.06. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 12.18% and a net margin of 27.92%. The firm had revenue of $264.12 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $202.70 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.46 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 70.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Financial Bancorp.

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FFBC. Belpointe Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 80.7% during 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. boosted its holdings 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 period. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. purchased a new position in First Financial Bancorp. during the 4th quarter valued at about $48,000. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new position in First Financial Bancorp. during the 1st quarter valued at about $55,000. 75.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First Financial Bancorp. Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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 accepts various deposit products, such as interest-bearing and noninterest-bearing accounts, time deposits, and cash management services for commercial customers.

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