Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Boosts First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Price Target to $32.00

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBCGet Free Report) had its price objective increased by research analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $31.00 to $32.00 in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “market perform” rating on the bank’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price target indicates a potential upside of 15.40% from the stock’s current price.

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

View Our Latest Research Report on First Financial Bancorp.

First Financial Bancorp. Price Performance

First Financial Bancorp. stock opened at $27.73 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.95 and a beta of 1.02. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $28.01 and its 200-day moving average is $26.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. First Financial Bancorp. has a 12 month low of $20.59 and a 12 month high of $31.18.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBCGet Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.06. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 18.55% and a return on equity of 10.32%. Equities research analysts expect that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.52 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Scott T. Crawley sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.31, for a total value of $87,930.00. Following the completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Richard S. Dennen sold 4,068 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.01, for a total value of $122,080.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 70,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. Insiders have sold a total of 8,000 shares of company stock worth $237,971 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Financial Bancorp.

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FFBC. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 0.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,643,440 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $117,154,000 after purchasing an additional 39,655 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 1.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,271,990 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $57,333,000 after buying an additional 34,977 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 1.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,282,349 shares of the bank’s stock worth $32,354,000 after buying an additional 23,472 shares in the last quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division increased its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division now owns 901,908 shares of the bank’s stock worth $22,755,000 after acquiring an additional 36,679 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 491,232 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $12,394,000 after purchasing an additional 20,449 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.23% of the company’s stock.

First Financial Bancorp. Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

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