First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Announces Earnings Results

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) announced its earnings results on Thursday. The bank reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.06, Zacks reports. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 18.55% and a return on equity of 10.32%.

First Financial Bancorp. Price Performance

Shares of FFBC stock traded up $0.04 on Thursday, reaching $27.99. The company had a trading volume of 475,149 shares, compared to its average volume of 453,294. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.67 billion, a PE ratio of 12.06 and a beta of 1.02. 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 business’s 50-day moving average is $28.10 and its 200 day moving average is $26.43. First Financial Bancorp. has a one year low of $20.59 and a one year high of $31.18.

Insider Activity at First Financial Bancorp.

In other news, insider Richard S. Dennen sold 932 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total value of $27,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 74,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,241,600. This represents a 1.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider James R. Shank sold 3,700 shares of First Financial Bancorp. 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,374 shares in the company, valued at approximately $404,951.16. This represents a 19.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 11,700 shares of company stock valued at $335,429. 2.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on FFBC shares. Stephens raised First Financial Bancorp. from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on First Financial Bancorp. from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th.

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.