First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Now Covered by Analysts at Hovde Group

Key Points

• Analysts at Hovde Group have initiated coverage on First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC), assigning it an "outperform" rating.
• Multiple analysts have recently updated their target prices, with Royal Bank Of Canada raising theirs to $28.00 and Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increasing theirs to $32.00.
• First Financial Bancorp. reported a net margin of 19.41% and an earnings per share (EPS) of $0.74 for the last quarter, surpassing analyst expectations.

Equities researchers at Hovde Group initiated coverage on shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC - Get Free Report) in a research note issued on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm set an "outperform" rating on the bank's stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $28.00 target price (up from $27.00) on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of First Financial Bancorp. from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, July 20th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $27.00 target price for the company. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $29.00 target price on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Friday, June 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, First Financial Bancorp. presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $29.40.

First Financial Bancorp. Price Performance

Shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock traded up $0.1660 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $25.2960. 25,649 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 405,212. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $24.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $24.74. First Financial Bancorp. has a twelve month low of $21.10 and a twelve month high of $31.18. The company has a market cap of $2.42 billion, a PE ratio of 10.08 and a beta of 0.98.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The bank reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.05. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 19.41% and a return on equity of 10.57%. The business had revenue of $226.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $219.95 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.64 EPS. Analysts forecast that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Archie M. Brown sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.79, for a total transaction of $309,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 240,891 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,971,687.89. This represents a 4.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.13% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of First Financial Bancorp.

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 2.6% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 525,209 shares of the bank's stock valued at $13,120,000 after acquiring an additional 13,341 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 43.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,522 shares of the bank's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 464 shares during the last quarter. MQS Management LLC acquired a new stake in First Financial Bancorp. in the first quarter valued at $543,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 43.8% in the first quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 36,408 shares of the bank's stock valued at $909,000 after acquiring an additional 11,098 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 53,747 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,445,000 after acquiring an additional 2,070 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.23% of the company's stock.

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.