First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Price Target Raised to $32.00

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) had its price objective hoisted by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $31.00 to $32.00 in a research report released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has a market perform rating on the bank’s stock.

Separately, Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $33.00 target price on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Friday, January 24th.

First Financial Bancorp. Trading Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ FFBC opened at $27.66 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $27.99 and its 200 day moving average is $26.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.64 billion, a PE ratio of 11.92 and a beta of 1.02. First Financial Bancorp. has a twelve month low of $20.59 and a twelve month high of $31.18.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.06. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 10.32% and a net margin of 18.55%. Research analysts forecast that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Financial Bancorp. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.00%.

Insider Transactions at First Financial Bancorp.

In other news, insider Scott T. Crawley sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.31, for a total value of $87,930.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 19,279 shares in the company, valued at $565,067.49. This represents a 13.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Richard S. Dennen sold 4,068 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.01, for a total transaction of $122,080.68. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 70,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,120,266.52. This represents a 5.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 8,000 shares of company stock valued at $237,971. Corporate insiders own 2.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FFBC. Kentucky Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. in the 4th quarter valued at $76,000. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 308,749 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,299,000 after buying an additional 15,037 shares in the last quarter. Kavar Capital Partners Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. in the fourth quarter worth about $208,000. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 82.8% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 5,150 shares of the bank’s stock worth $138,000 after acquiring an additional 2,333 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 11.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 9,340 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $236,000 after acquiring an additional 945 shares during the period. 77.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.