NASDAQ:FFBC - First Financial Bancorp Stock Price, News, & Analysis

First Financial Bancorp trades on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol "FFBC."

First Financial Bancorp declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share on Friday, March 15th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 28th. This is a boost from First Financial Bancorp's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. View First Financial Bancorp's Dividend History.

First Financial Bancorp declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Monday, January 14th 2019, which permits the company to buyback 0 outstanding shares, according to EventVestor. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

First Financial Bancorp (NASDAQ:FFBC) released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January, 23rd. The bank reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.03. The bank earned $155.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $152.75 million. First Financial Bancorp had a return on equity of 11.63% and a net margin of 26.81%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.45 earnings per share. View First Financial Bancorp's Earnings History.

First Financial Bancorp is scheduled to release their next quarterly earnings announcement on Thursday, April 18th 2019. View Earnings Estimates for First Financial Bancorp.

8 brokerages have issued 12 month target prices for First Financial Bancorp's stock. Their forecasts range from $26.00 to $33.00. On average, they expect First Financial Bancorp's stock price to reach $30.1667 in the next year. This suggests a possible upside of 7.4% from the stock's current price. View Analyst Price Targets for First Financial Bancorp.

8 Wall Street analysts have issued "buy," "hold," and "sell" ratings for First Financial Bancorp in the last year. There are currently 1 sell rating, 4 hold ratings and 3 buy ratings for the stock, resulting in a consensus recommendation of "Hold." View Analyst Ratings for First Financial Bancorp.

Press coverage about FFBC stock has been trending somewhat negative this week, according to InfoTrie. The research firm ranks the sentiment of press coverage by reviewing more than six thousand blog and news sources in real time. The firm ranks coverage of companies on a scale of negative five to positive five, with scores nearest to five being the most favorable. First Financial Bancorp earned a media sentiment score of -1.1 on InfoTrie's scale. They also gave headlines about the bank a news buzz of 10.0 out of 10, meaning that recent press coverage is extremely likely to have an effect on the company's share price in the next several days.

Some companies that are related to First Financial Bancorp include Zions Bancorporation NA (ZION), Cullen/Frost Bankers (CFR), BOK Financial (BOKF), CIT Group (CIT), Akbank T.A.S. (AKBTY), Webster Financial (WBS), First Horizon National (FHN), PacWest Bancorp (PACW), Synovus Financial (SNV), Pinnacle Financial Partners (PNFP), Sterling Bancorp (STL), F.N.B. (FNB), TCF Financial (TCF), MB Financial (MBFI) and Valley National Bancorp (VLY).

First Financial Bancorp's stock is owned by a number of of institutional and retail investors. Top institutional investors include BlackRock Inc. (13.87%), Dimensional Fund Advisors LP (5.61%), Macquarie Group Ltd. (4.92%), Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. (2.48%), Northern Trust Corp (2.33%) and Bank of New York Mellon Corp (1.43%). Company insiders that own First Financial Bancorp stock include Anthony M Stollings, Bradley J Ringwald, C Douglas Lefferson, Claude E Davis, David S Barker, J Wickliffe Ach, John T Neighbours, Matthew B Burgess, Paul C Silva, Richard E Olszewski and Vince Berta. View Institutional Ownership Trends for First Financial Bancorp.

FFBC stock was sold by a variety of institutional investors in the last quarter, including BlackRock Inc., Barclays PLC, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP, Millennium Management LLC, First Financial Bank Trust Division, Prudential Financial Inc., Natixis Advisors L.P. and Victory Capital Management Inc.. Company insiders that have sold First Financial Bancorp company stock in the last year include Anthony M Stollings, Bradley J Ringwald, Claude E Davis and John T Neighbours. View Insider Buying and Selling for First Financial Bancorp.

FFBC stock was purchased by a variety of institutional investors in the last quarter, including Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund, Macquarie Group Ltd., Rafferty Asset Management LLC, Dean Investment Associates LLC, Bank of America Corp DE, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P., Bahl & Gaynor Inc. and Assenagon Asset Management S.A.. Company insiders that have bought First Financial Bancorp stock in the last two years include David S Barker, J Wickliffe Ach, Matthew B Burgess, Richard E Olszewski and Vince Berta. View Insider Buying and Selling for First Financial Bancorp.

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

One share of FFBC stock can currently be purchased for approximately $28.10.

First Financial Bancorp has a market capitalization of $2.75 billion and generates $643.76 million in revenue each year. The bank earns $172.59 million in net income (profit) each year or $2.28 on an earnings per share basis. First Financial Bancorp employs 1,366 workers across the globe.

The official website for First Financial Bancorp is http://www.bankatfirst.com.

First Financial Bancorp's mailing address is 255 EAST FIFTH STREET SUITE 700, CINCINNATI OH, 45202. The bank can be reached via phone at 877-322-9530 or via email at [email protected]