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

Company Overview

First Financial Bancorp. is a bank holding company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. Through its principal subsidiary, First Financial Bank, the company provides banking and financial services to businesses, individuals, and community organizations.

First Financial Bank offers commercial and retail banking products, including business loans, commercial real estate financing, consumer lending, residential mortgage services, deposit accounts, treasury management, and online and mobile banking. The bank also provides wealth management, trust, investment, and financial planning services.

The company serves customers through a network of banking offices and digital channels in parts of Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky. First Financial Bancorp. has expanded its presence over time through organic growth and acquisitions, including its 2018 merger with MainSource Financial Group, which increased the bank’s operations in Indiana and surrounding markets.

Archie M. Brown Jr. serves as president and chief executive officer of First Financial Bancorp. and First Financial Bank. The company emphasizes relationship-based banking and personalized financial solutions for commercial and consumer customers.

Key Stats

• Today's Range: $31.19 to $31.59
• 50-Day Range: $31.22 to $36.18
• 52-Week Range: $23.06 to $36.24
• Volume: 1.02 million shs
• Average Volume: 808,945 shs
• Market Capitalization: $3.28 billion
• P/E Ratio: 11.03
• Dividend Yield: 3.33%
• Price Target: $33.67
• Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

First Financial Bancorp. scored higher than 60% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 519th out of 835 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: 2.5 / 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 11.03, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 44.72.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of First Financial Bancorp. is 11.03, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the Finance sector average P/E ratio of about 25.23.

Price to Book Value per Share Ratio

First Financial Bancorp. has a P/B Ratio of 1.11. P/B Ratios below 3 indicates that a company is reasonably valued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Short Interest

• Score: 1.0 / 5
• Short Interest Level: Bearish

Percentage of Shares Shorted

5.30% 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 8.67.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in First Financial Bancorp. has recently increased by 3.57%, indicating that investor sentiment is decreasing.

Dividend

• Score: 2.5 / 5
• Dividend Strength: Moderate

Dividend Yield

First Financial Bancorp. pays a meaningful dividend of 3.32%, 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: 2.0 / 5
• News Sentiment: 0.13

News Sentiment

First Financial Bancorp. has a news sentiment score of 0.13. 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 lower news sentiment than the 0.63 average news sentiment score of Finance companies.

News Coverage This Week

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

Search Interest

1 people have searched for FFBC on MarketBeat in the last 30 days.

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 $919,006.00 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

• Last Earnings: 7/21/2026
• Record date for 9/15 Dividend: 9/01/2026
• Ex-Dividend for 9/15 Dividend: 9/01/2026
• Dividend Payable: 9/15/2026
• Today: 9/24/2026
• 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: +7.8%
• 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: 11.03
• Forward P/E Ratio: 9.70
• 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: $1.26 billion
• Price / Sales: 2.60
• Cash Flow: $3.14 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 9.95
• Book Value: $28.11 per share
• Price / Book: 1.11

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 104,970,000
• Free Float: 103,835,000
• Market Cap: $3.28 billion
• Optionable: Optionable
• Beta: 0.91