First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Hits New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $31.06 and last traded at $31.1420, with a volume of 73999 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $30.90.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on FFBC. Hovde Group upped their price objective on First Financial Bancorp. from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on First Financial Bancorp. from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on First Financial Bancorp. from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Zacks Research lowered shares of First Financial Bancorp. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $30.50.

First Financial Bancorp. Trading Up 0.6%

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $26.62 and a 200-day moving average of $25.53. The company has a market cap of $3.06 billion, a PE ratio of 11.69 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $251.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $249.00 million. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 10.77% and a net margin of 20.30%.During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.71 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Financial Bancorp. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 2nd. First Financial Bancorp.’s payout ratio is 37.59%.

Insider Transactions at First Financial Bancorp.

In related news, insider Richard S. Dennen sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.20, for a total value of $604,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 61,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,868,051.20. This represents a 24.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Gregory A. Harris sold 1,821 shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.43, for a total value of $53,592.03. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 42,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,248,744.33. This trade represents a 4.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 44,821 shares of company stock valued at $1,273,992. 1.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Financial Bancorp.

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bogart Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. First Horizon Corp purchased a new position in First Financial Bancorp. during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. MAI Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 530.6% in the 3rd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 1,545 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 38.7% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,743 shares of the bank’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 486 shares during the period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 2,741.3% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,790 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 1,727 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.23% of the company’s stock.

About First Financial Bancorp.

First Financial Bancorp (NASDAQ: FFBC) is a bank holding company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the parent of First Financial Bank. The company provides a comprehensive suite of commercial and consumer banking services through a network of more than 100 full-service banking centers and mortgage offices across Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky. Its core mission centers on delivering personalized relationship banking to businesses, individuals and public sector clients.

First Financial Bank’s product portfolio includes deposit solutions such as checking, savings and money market accounts, alongside a range of lending offerings that cover commercial and industrial loans, real estate and construction financing, home mortgages and home equity lines of credit.