First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Earns Overweight Rating from Stephens

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Stephens in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $33.00 price target on the bank’s stock. Stephens’ price target would indicate a potential upside of 19.00% from the stock’s current price.

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on First Financial Bancorp. from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Performance

Shares of FFBC stock opened at $27.73 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.95 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $28.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.52. First Financial Bancorp. has a 12 month low of $20.59 and a 12 month high of $31.18.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.06. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 18.55% and a return on equity of 10.32%. Equities research analysts forecast that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.52 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider James R. Shank sold 3,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.34, for a total transaction of $97,458.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $404,951.16. This represents a 19.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Richard S. Dennen sold 4,068 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.01, for a total value of $122,080.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 70,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,120,266.52. The trade was a 5.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,700 shares of company stock valued at $335,429 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Financial Bancorp.

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Financial Management Professionals Inc. bought a new stake in First Financial Bancorp. during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. during the third quarter worth about $30,000. ORG Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Bogart Wealth LLC lifted its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 2,976.9% in the 3rd quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 2,000 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 1,935 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 82.8% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 5,150 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $138,000 after purchasing an additional 2,333 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.