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: $26.20 to $27.05
• 50-Day Range: $23.55 to $26.79
• 52-Week Range: $21.10 to $31.18
• Volume: 316,241 shs
• Average Volume: 452,800 shs
• Market Capitalization: $2.53 billion
• P/E Ratio: 10.55
• Dividend Yield: 3.79%
• Price Target: $29.40
• Consensus Rating: Hold

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

First Financial Bancorp. scored higher than 89% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 224th out of 922 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: 2.9 / 5
• Analyst Rating: Hold

Consensus Rating

First Financial Bancorp. has received a consensus rating of Hold. The company's average rating score is 2.40, and is based on 2 buy ratings, 3 hold ratings, and no sell ratings.

Upside Potential

First Financial Bancorp. has a consensus price target of $29.40, representing about 11.4% upside from its current price of $26.38.

Amount of Analyst Coverage

First Financial Bancorp. has only been the subject of 4 research reports in the past 90 days.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 1.9 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: 4.92%

Earnings Growth

Earnings for First Financial Bancorp. are expected to grow by 4.92% in the coming year, from $2.64 to $2.77 per share.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of First Financial Bancorp. is 10.55, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 277.58.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of First Financial Bancorp. is 10.55, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the Finance sector average P/E ratio of about 232.29.

Price to Book Value per Share Ratio

First Financial Bancorp. has a P/B Ratio of 1.03. 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

1.74% 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 4.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in First Financial Bancorp. has recently increased by 17.14%, indicating that investor sentiment is decreasing significantly.

Dividend

• Score: 3.3 / 5
• Dividend Strength: Strong

Dividend Leadership

First Financial Bancorp. is a leading dividend payer. It pays a dividend yield of 3.75%, putting its dividend yield in the top 25% of dividend-paying stocks.

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 40.00%. 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 36.10% next year. This indicates that First Financial Bancorp. will be able to sustain or increase its dividend.

Sustainability and ESG

• Score: 2.4 / 5
• Environmental Score: -0.68

Percentage of Shares Shorted

1.74% 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 4.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in First Financial Bancorp. has recently increased by 17.14%, indicating that investor sentiment is decreasing significantly.

News and Social Media

• Score: 2.9 / 5
• News Sentiment: 1.31

News Sentiment

First Financial Bancorp. has a news sentiment score of 1.31. 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 0.96 average news sentiment score of Finance companies.

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 7 news articles for First Financial Bancorp. this week, compared to 4 articles on an average week.

Company Ownership

• Score: 2.5 / 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 $505,820.00 in company stock.

Percentage Held by Insiders

Only 1.13% 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.

FFBC Stock Analysis - Frequently Asked Questions

How have FFBC shares performed this year?

First Financial Bancorp.'s stock was trading at $26.88 at the beginning of the year. Since then, FFBC shares have decreased by 1.9% and is now trading at $26.38.

How were First Financial Bancorp.'s earnings last quarter?

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July, 24th. The bank reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.05. The bank earned $226.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $219.95 million. First Financial Bancorp. had a trailing twelve-month return on equity of 10.57% and a net margin of 19.41%.
Read the conference call transcript.

Who are First Financial Bancorp.'s major shareholders?

First Financial Bancorp.'s top institutional investors include State Street Corp (4.70%), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (2.91%), Geode Capital Management LLC (2.44%) and Bank of New York Mellon Corp (1.08%). Insiders that own company stock include Archie M Brown, William G Barron, Richard S Dennen, Claude E Davis, Thomas Murray Obrien, Scott T Crawley, James R Shank and Dawn C Morris.
View institutional ownership trends.

How do I buy shares of First Financial Bancorp.?

Shares of FFBC stock can be purchased through any online brokerage account. Popular online brokerages with access to the U.S. stock market include Charles Schwab, E*TRADE, Fidelity, and Vanguard Brokerage Services.

What other stocks do shareholders of First Financial Bancorp. own?

Based on aggregate information from My MarketBeat watchlists, some other companies that First Financial Bancorp. investors own include Waste Connections (WCN), DiamondRock Hospitality (DRH), American Water Works (AWK), AU Optronics (AUOTY), The RMR Group (RMR), iShares Micro-Cap ETF (IWC) and Voyager Therapeutics (VYGR).

Company Calendar

• Record date for 6/16 Dividend: 6/02/2025
• Ex-Dividend for 6/16 Dividend: 6/02/2025
• Dividend Payable: 6/16/2025
• Last Earnings: 7/24/2025
• Record date for 9/15 Dividend: 9/02/2025
• Ex-Dividend for 9/15 Dividend: 9/02/2025
• Today: 9/05/2025
• Dividend Payable: 9/15/2025
• Next Earnings (Estimated): 10/23/2025
• Fiscal Year End: 12/31/2025

Industry, Sector and Symbol

• Stock Exchange: NASDAQ
• Sector: Finance
• Industry: BANKS - MIDWEST
• Sub-Industry: Regional Banks
• Current Symbol: NASDAQ:FFBC
• CIK: 708955
• Web: www.bankatfirst.com
• Phone: (877) 322-9530
• Fax: 513-867-3111
• Employees: 2,090
• Year Founded: 1863

Price Target and Rating

• Average Price Target for First Financial Bancorp.: $29.40
• High Price Target: $32.00
• Low Price Target: $27.00
• Potential Upside/Downside: +11.4%
• Consensus Rating: Hold
• Rating Score (0-4): 2.40
• Research Coverage: 5 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Trailing Twelve Months): $2.50
• Trailing P/E Ratio: 10.55
• Forward P/E Ratio: 9.99
• P/E Growth: N/A
• Net Income: $228.83 million
• Net Margins: 19.41%
• Pretax Margin: 23.03%
• Return on Equity: 10.57%
• Return on Assets: 1.42%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: 0.40
• Current Ratio: 0.90
• Quick Ratio: 0.90

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: $1.62 billion
• Price / Sales: 1.56
• Cash Flow: $2.93 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 9.00
• Book Value: $25.53 per share
• Price / Book: 1.03

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 95,750,000
• Free Float: 94,672,000
• Market Cap: $2.53 billion
• Optionable: Optionable
• Beta: 1.02