First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to "Hold" Rating

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC - Free Report) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Sunday.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $29.00 target price on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $27.00 target price on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Truist Financial started coverage on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. They set a "hold" rating and a $27.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $28.75.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Performance

First Financial Bancorp. stock traded down $0.30 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $24.32. 286,981 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 413,380. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $24.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.16. The firm has a market cap of $2.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.09 and a beta of 0.96. First Financial Bancorp. has a fifty-two week low of $21.10 and a fifty-two week high of $31.18.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The bank reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63. The firm had revenue of $201.59 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $214.80 million. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 18.65% and a return on equity of 10.44%. First Financial Bancorp.'s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.59 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

First Financial Bancorp. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd were issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.95%. First Financial Bancorp.'s payout ratio is currently 39.83%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 43.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,522 shares of the bank's stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 464 shares during the period. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 24.4% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,201 shares of the bank's stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 432 shares during the period. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 68.9% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,502 shares of the bank's stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 1,021 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. during the first quarter worth approximately $78,000. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 807.3% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 2,976 shares of the bank's stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 2,648 shares in 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.