Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Issues Positive Forecast for First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Stock Price

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) had its target price boosted by equities researchers at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $31.00 to $32.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “market perform” rating on the bank’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ target price points to a potential upside of 14.17% from the stock’s current price.

Separately, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $33.00 price target on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Friday.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of FFBC opened at $28.03 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $2.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.13 and a beta of 1.02. First Financial Bancorp. has a 12-month low of $20.59 and a 12-month high of $31.18. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $28.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $26.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.06. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 18.55% and a return on equity of 10.32%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at First Financial Bancorp.

In other news, insider Scott T. Crawley sold 3,000 shares of the business’s 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 directly owns 19,279 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $565,067.49. The trade was a 13.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Richard S. Dennen sold 4,068 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.01, for a total value of $122,080.68. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 70,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,120,266.52. This represents a 5.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. 2.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Financial Bancorp.

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FFBC. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 0.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,643,440 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $117,154,000 after purchasing an additional 39,655 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 1.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,271,990 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $57,333,000 after purchasing an additional 34,977 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 1.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,282,349 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $32,354,000 after purchasing an additional 23,472 shares during the last quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division increased its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 4.2% in the third quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division now owns 901,908 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $22,755,000 after purchasing an additional 36,679 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 4.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 491,232 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $12,394,000 after purchasing an additional 20,449 shares during the last quarter. 77.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.