First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The bank reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05, Briefing.com reports. The business had revenue of $314.22 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $203.50 million. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 19.67% and a return on equity of 10.81%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.72 EPS.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FFBC opened at $28.09 on Friday. First Financial Bancorp. has a twelve month low of $17.23 and a twelve month high of $28.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.33 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $22.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.44.

First Financial Bancorp. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 2nd will be given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.42%. This is a positive change from First Financial Bancorp.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.10%.

Insider Activity

In other First Financial Bancorp. news, insider Richard S. Dennen sold 10,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.64, for a total value of $248,220.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 93,152 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,202,113.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.04% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $24.00 price target on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th.

First Financial Bancorp. Company Profile

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.