First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Increases Dividend to $0.24 Per Share

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, July 25th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 2nd will be given a dividend of 0.24 per share by the bank on Monday, September 16th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. This is an increase from First Financial Bancorp.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23.

First Financial Bancorp. has a payout ratio of 37.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect First Financial Bancorp. to earn $2.48 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.92 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 37.1%.

First Financial Bancorp. Trading Up 3.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ FFBC opened at $28.09 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $22.77 and its 200-day moving average is $22.44. The stock has a market cap of $2.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.33 and a beta of 1.01. First Financial Bancorp. has a twelve month low of $17.23 and a twelve month high of $28.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The bank reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $314.22 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $203.50 million. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 19.67% and a return on equity of 10.81%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.72 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.43 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $24.00 price target on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th.

Insider Activity at First Financial Bancorp.

In related news, insider Richard S. Dennen sold 10,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.64, for a total value of $248,220.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 93,152 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,202,113.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.