First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.05 EPS

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The bank reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.05, Briefing.com reports. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 19.67% and a return on equity of 10.81%. The firm had revenue of $314.22 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $203.50 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.72 EPS.

First Financial Bancorp. Trading Up 3.8 %

FFBC traded up $1.03 on Friday, reaching $28.09. 672,167 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 451,077. First Financial Bancorp. has a one year low of $17.23 and a one year 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. The company has a market cap of $2.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.33 and a beta of 1.01. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.44.

First Financial Bancorp. Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Monday, September 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This is a positive change from First Financial Bancorp.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.42%. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.10%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Richard S. Dennen sold 10,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.64, for a total value of $248,220.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 93,152 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,202,113.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.04% of the company’s stock.

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.