First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Given Overweight Rating at Stephens

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reaffirmed by equities research analysts at Stephens in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $33.00 target price on the bank’s stock. Stephens’ price objective indicates a potential upside of 18.98% from the stock’s current price.

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on First Financial Bancorp. from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ FFBC traded down $0.26 on Friday, hitting $27.74. The company had a trading volume of 45,258 shares, compared to its average volume of 425,219. First Financial Bancorp. has a 12-month low of $20.59 and a 12-month high of $31.18. The business has a 50 day moving average of $28.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.45. 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 $2.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.95 and a beta of 1.02.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.71 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at First Financial Bancorp.

In other news, insider Richard S. Dennen sold 4,068 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.01, for a total transaction of $122,080.68. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 70,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,120,266.52. This represents a 5.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider James R. Shank sold 3,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.34, for a total value of $97,458.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,374 shares in the company, valued at $404,951.16. The trade was a 19.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,700 shares of company stock valued at $335,429. Insiders own 2.04% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Financial Bancorp.

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew 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 worth $12,394,000 after buying an additional 20,449 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new position in First Financial Bancorp. during the 2nd quarter valued at $300,000. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in First Financial Bancorp. during the 4th quarter valued at $273,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,271,990 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $57,333,000 after purchasing an additional 34,977 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. boosted its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 25.2% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 166,170 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,192,000 after purchasing an additional 33,464 shares in the last quarter. 77.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.