First Financial Bancorp. (FFBC) Projected to Post Quarterly Earnings on Thursday

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) will likely be releasing its earnings data after the market closes on Thursday, January 23rd. Analysts expect First Financial Bancorp. to post earnings of $0.65 per share and revenue of $216,325.00 billion for the quarter.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $302.82 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $214.00 million. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 18.55% and a return on equity of 10.32%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.67 EPS. On average, analysts expect First Financial Bancorp. to post $3 EPS for the current fiscal year and $2 EPS for the next fiscal year.

First Financial Bancorp. Price Performance

First Financial Bancorp. stock opened at $27.56 on Thursday. First Financial Bancorp. has a 52 week low of $20.59 and a 52 week high of $31.18. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $28.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.22. The stock has a market cap of $2.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.88 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.

First Financial Bancorp. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. First Financial Bancorp.’s payout ratio is 41.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Financial Bancorp.

In other First Financial Bancorp. news, insider Richard S. Dennen sold 932 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total transaction of $27,960.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 74,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,241,600. This represents a 1.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Scott T. Crawley sold 3,000 shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.31, for a total transaction of $87,930.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 19,279 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $565,067.49. The trade was a 13.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 11,700 shares of company stock valued at $335,429. Company insiders own 2.04% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FFBC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on First Financial Bancorp. from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Stephens upgraded shares of First Financial Bancorp. from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th.

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.