First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.01 EPS

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) issued its earnings results on Thursday. The bank reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.01, Briefing.com reports. The business had revenue of $302.82 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $214.00 million. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 10.69% and a net margin of 19.67%. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.67 EPS.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FFBC traded down $1.05 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $24.38. The company had a trading volume of 715,460 shares, compared to its average volume of 369,221. First Financial Bancorp. has a 1-year low of $17.34 and a 1-year high of $28.25. The firm has a market cap of $2.33 billion, a PE ratio of 9.84 and a beta of 0.99. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $25.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93.

First Financial Bancorp. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.94%. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.71%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Claude E. Davis sold 29,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.60, for a total value of $771,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 53,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,425,121.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.04% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on First Financial Bancorp. from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on First Financial Bancorp. from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th.

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.