First Financial Bancorp. (FFBC) Stock Price, News & Analysis

Company Overview

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. The bank also delivers treasury management services designed to optimize cash flow and working capital for corporate clients, while its wealth management division offers investment advisory, brokerage, trust and retirement planning services. Digital and mobile banking platforms support both retail and business customers with online account access, payment processing, fraud management and other self-service tools.

Tracing its heritage to 1863, First Financial Bancorp reorganized as a bank holding company in 1983 to enhance its strategic flexibility and expand its geographic footprint. Today, the company serves key markets in the greater Cincinnati region as well as select communities in Indiana and Kentucky. Its senior management team, supported by an experienced board of directors, emphasizes community engagement, prudent risk management and long-term shareholder value. First Financial Bancorp remains committed to its community banking roots while leveraging regional scale to offer a full spectrum of financial services.

Key Stats

• Today's Range: $32.62 to $33.28
• 50-Day Range: $31.46 to $36.18
• 52-Week Range: $23.06 to $36.24
• Volume: 724,293 shs
• Average Volume: 745,177 shs
• Market Capitalization: $3.47 billion
• P/E Ratio: 11.67
• Dividend Yield: 3.15%
• Price Target: $33.67
• Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

First Financial Bancorp. scored higher than 63% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 501st out of 836 stocks in the finance sector. Scores are calculated by averaging available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation.

Analyst's Opinion

• Score: 2.0 / 5
• Analyst Rating: Moderate Buy

Consensus Rating

First Financial Bancorp. has received a consensus rating of Moderate Buy. The company's average rating score is 2.50, and is based on no strong buy ratings, 4 buy ratings, 4 hold ratings, and no sell ratings.

Upside/Downside

The consensus price target for First Financial Bancorp. is close to its current price, suggesting limited near-term upside or downside.

Amount of Analyst Coverage

First Financial Bancorp. has only been the subject of 3 research reports in the past 90 days.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 2.5 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: 7.14%

Earnings Growth

Earnings for First Financial Bancorp. are expected to grow by 7.14% in the coming year, from $3.22 to $3.45 per share.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of First Financial Bancorp. is 11.67, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 45.45.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of First Financial Bancorp. is 11.67, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the Finance sector average P/E ratio of about 29.61.

Price to Book Value per Share Ratio

First Financial Bancorp. has a P/B Ratio of 1.16. P/B Ratios below 3 indicates that a company is reasonably valued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Short Interest

• Score: 2.0 / 5
• Short Interest Level: Bearish

Percentage of Shares Shorted

5.28% of the float of First Financial Bancorp. has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

First Financial Bancorp. has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 3.79, which is generally considered an acceptable ratio of short interest to trading volume.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in First Financial Bancorp. has recently increased by 9.96%, indicating that investor sentiment is decreasing significantly.

Dividend

• Score: 2.5 / 5
• Dividend Strength: Moderate

Dividend Yield

First Financial Bancorp. pays a meaningful dividend of 3.03%, higher than the bottom 25% of all stocks that pay dividends.

Dividend Growth

First Financial Bancorp. has only been increasing its dividend for 1 years.

Dividend Coverage

The dividend payout ratio of First Financial Bancorp. is 36.75%. This payout ratio is at a healthy, sustainable level, below 75%.

Dividend Sustainability

Based on earnings estimates, First Financial Bancorp. will have a dividend payout ratio of 30.14% next year. This indicates that First Financial Bancorp. will be able to sustain or increase its dividend.

News and Social Media

• Score: 3.0 / 5
• News Sentiment: N/A

News Sentiment

First Financial Bancorp. has a news sentiment score of 1.73. This score is calculated as an average of sentiment of articles about the company over the last seven days and ranges from 2 (good news) to -2 (bad news). This is a higher news sentiment than the 0.88 average news sentiment score of Finance companies.

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 1 news article for First Financial Bancorp. this week, compared to 4 articles on an average week.

Company Ownership

• Score: 1.5 / 5
• Insider Trading: Selling Shares

Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling

In the past three months, First Financial Bancorp. insiders have sold more of their company's stock than they have bought. Specifically, they have bought $0.00 in company stock and sold $559,318.00 in company stock.

Percentage Held by Insiders

1.08% of the stock of First Financial Bancorp. is held by insiders.

Percentage Held by Institutions

77.23% of the stock of First Financial Bancorp. is held by institutions. High institutional ownership can be a signal of strong market trust in this company.

Company Calendar

• Record date for 6/15 Dividend: 6/01/2026
• Ex-Dividend for 6/15 Dividend: 6/01/2026
• Dividend Payable: 6/15/2026
• Last Earnings: 7/21/2026
• Today: 8/23/2026
• Record date for 9/15 Dividend: 9/01/2026
• Ex-Dividend for 9/15 Dividend: 9/01/2026
• Dividend Payable: 9/15/2026
• Next Earnings (Estimated): 10/22/2026
• Fiscal Year End: 12/31/2026

Industry, Sector and Symbol

• Stock Exchange: NASDAQ
• Sector: Finance
• Industry: Banks
• Sub-Industry: Regional Banks
• Current Symbol: NASDAQ:FFBC
• CIK: 708955
• Web: www.bankatfirst.com
• Phone: (877) 322-9530
• Fax: 513-867-3111
• Employees: 2,199
• Year Founded: 1863

Price Target and Rating

• Average Price Target for First Financial Bancorp.: $33.67
• High Price Target: $36.00
• Low Price Target: $32.00
• Potential Upside/Downside: +1.9%
• Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy
• Rating Score (0-4): 2.50
• Research Coverage: 8 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Trailing Twelve Months): $2.83
• Trailing P/E Ratio: 11.67
• Forward P/E Ratio: 10.26
• P/E Growth: N/A
• Net Income: $255.60 million
• Net Margins: 20.77%
• Pretax Margin: 26.06%
• Return on Equity: 11.13%
• Return on Assets: 1.49%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: 0.32
• Current Ratio: 0.85
• Quick Ratio: 0.85

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: $996.38 million
• Price / Sales: 3.48
• Cash Flow: $3.15 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 10.49
• Book Value: $28.46 per share
• Price / Book: 1.16

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 104,969,000
• Free Float: 103,835,000
• Market Cap: $3.47 billion
• Optionable: Optionable
• Beta: 0.92