First Financial Bancorp. Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.25 (NASDAQ:FFBC)

Key Points

• Dividend: First Financial declared a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share (annualized $1.00), with record and ex-dividend dates on June 1 and payment on June 15, implying a ~3.3% yield.
• Financials & valuation: The bank reported Q earnings of $0.80 per share (vs. $0.78 expected) and revenue of $251.3M; the stock trades near $30.50 with a P/E of 10.8 and market cap of about $3.2B.
• Analyst view: Consensus is a "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $33, and several firms recently raised targets into the $32–$34 range.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be paid a dividend of 0.25 per share by the bank on Monday, June 15th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st.

First Financial Bancorp. has increased its dividend by an average of 0.0%annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 1 consecutive years. First Financial Bancorp. has a dividend payout ratio of 36.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect First Financial Bancorp. to earn $3.36 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 29.8%.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Performance

FFBC opened at $30.52 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. First Financial Bancorp. has a 12-month low of $22.63 and a 12-month high of $31.38. The business has a 50 day moving average of $28.43 and a 200-day moving average of $26.84. The stock has a market cap of $3.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.82 and a beta of 0.94.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC - Get Free Report) last posted 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. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 11.09% and a net margin of 20.92%.The business had revenue of $251.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $249.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.71 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that First Financial Bancorp. will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on FFBC shares. Hovde Group boosted their price target on First Financial Bancorp. from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Stephens started coverage on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a report on Friday, March 27th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $33.00 price objective for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $34.00 target price on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a report on Monday. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on First Financial Bancorp. from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $33.00.

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.

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