First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Declares Dividend Increase – $0.26 Per Share

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, July 21st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be paid a dividend of 0.26 per share by the bank on Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 1st. This is a 4.0% increase from First Financial Bancorp.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25.

First Financial Bancorp. has raised its dividend by an average of 0.0%per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 1 consecutive years. First Financial Bancorp. has a payout ratio of 36.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect First Financial Bancorp. to earn $3.40 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 29.4%.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Performance

FFBC stock opened at $35.67 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $32.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $29.77. First Financial Bancorp. has a twelve month low of $23.06 and a twelve month high of $36.24. The firm has a market cap of $3.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.60 and a beta of 0.92.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The bank reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $264.17 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $270.29 million. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 11.09% and a net margin of 20.92%.During the same period last year, the company earned $0.74 earnings per share. Analysts predict that First Financial Bancorp. will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on FFBC shares. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of First Financial Bancorp. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Stephens began coverage on First Financial Bancorp. in a report on Friday, March 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $33.00 target price for the company. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on First Financial Bancorp. from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, First Financial Bancorp. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $33.67.

About First Financial Bancorp.

First Financial Bancorp (NASDAQ: FFBC) is a bank holding company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the parent of First Financial Bank. The company provides a comprehensive suite of commercial and consumer banking services through a network of more than 100 full-service banking centers and mortgage offices across Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky. Its core mission centers on delivering personalized relationship banking to businesses, individuals and public sector clients.

First Financial Bank’s product portfolio includes deposit solutions such as checking, savings and money market accounts, alongside a range of lending offerings that cover commercial and industrial loans, real estate and construction financing, home mortgages and home equity lines of credit.