First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Lowered to "Hold" Rating by Zacks Research

Key Points

• Zacks Research downgraded First Financial Bancorp. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating, indicating a cautious outlook for the stock.
• Despite the downgrade, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a target price of $29.83 according to analysts.
• In recent insider transactions, both the Director and CEO sold shares, reducing their ownership stakes in the company.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Stephens reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $29.00 price target on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a report on Friday, June 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $28.00 price target (up from $27.00) on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a report on Monday, July 28th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on First Financial Bancorp. from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $30.00 target price on First Financial Bancorp. and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $29.83.

First Financial Bancorp. Trading Up 2.9%

Shares of FFBC opened at $25.65 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.26 and a beta of 0.96. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $25.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.59. First Financial Bancorp. has a twelve month low of $21.10 and a twelve month high of $31.18.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 15th. The bank reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 10.57% and a net margin of 19.41%.The business had revenue of $179.99 million for the quarter. On average, equities research analysts forecast that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at First Financial Bancorp.

In other First Financial Bancorp. news, Director Thomas Murray Obrien sold 7,383 shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.54, for a total value of $195,944.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 46,480 shares in the company, valued at $1,233,579.20. The trade was a 13.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Archie M. Brown sold 12,500 shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.79, for a total value of $309,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 240,891 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,971,687.89. The trade was a 4.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Financial Bancorp.

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 2,741.3% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,790 shares of the bank's stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 1,727 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 3.0% during the third quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 44,494 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,123,000 after buying an additional 1,281 shares during the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 38.6% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 10,823 shares of the bank's stock valued at $263,000 after buying an additional 3,013 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 208.4% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 33,666 shares of the bank's stock valued at $817,000 after buying an additional 22,748 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 15.3% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 144,552 shares of the bank's stock valued at $3,507,000 after buying an additional 19,142 shares during the last quarter. 77.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About First Financial Bancorp.

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.

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