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

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC - Get Free Report) issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The bank reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.01, Briefing.com reports. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 10.69% and a net margin of 19.67%. The firm had revenue of $302.82 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $214.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.67 EPS.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Performance

Shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock traded down $1.05 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $24.38. 715,460 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 369,221. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $25.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $23.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.84 and a beta of 0.99. First Financial Bancorp. has a 12-month low of $17.34 and a 12-month high of $28.25.

First Financial Bancorp. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.94%. First Financial Bancorp.'s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other First Financial Bancorp. news, insider Claude E. Davis sold 29,000 shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.60, for a total value of $771,400.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 53,576 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,425,121.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 2.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on FFBC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on First Financial Bancorp. from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, July 29th.

About First Financial Bancorp.

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.

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