First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Announces Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.02 EPS

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The bank reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.82 by $0.02, FiscalAI reports. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 11.13% and a net margin of 20.77%.

First Financial Bancorp. Trading Down 0.4%

FFBC traded down $0.13 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $32.54. 696,805 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 932,919. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $32.12 and a 200 day moving average of $30.81. First Financial Bancorp. has a 12-month low of $23.06 and a 12-month high of $36.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.50 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other First Financial Bancorp. news, CEO Archie M. Brown sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.93, for a total value of $164,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 238,758 shares in the company, valued at $7,862,300.94. This trade represents a 2.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Thomas O’Brien sold 16,088 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.77, for a total value of $527,203.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 30,392 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $995,945.84. The trade was a 34.61% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 27,788 shares of company stock worth $919,006 in the last quarter. 1.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on FFBC shares. Wall Street Zen cut First Financial Bancorp. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Truist Financial upgraded shares of First Financial Bancorp. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $35.00 to $37.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 24th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research report on Friday, September 4th. Finally, Raymond James Financial upped their price target on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.00.

First Financial Bancorp. Company Profile

First Financial Bancorp. is a bank holding company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. Through its principal subsidiary, First Financial Bank, the company provides banking and financial services to businesses, individuals and organizations.

First Financial Bank offers commercial and consumer lending, deposit accounts, treasury management, cash management and other traditional banking products. Its services also include wealth management, investment services and mortgage-related solutions, helping customers manage borrowing, deposits, payments and longer-term financial needs.

The company serves communities primarily in Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky through a network of banking offices and digital banking channels.