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

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

First Financial Bancorp. Price Performance

Shares of FFBC stock traded up $1.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $28.09. The stock had a trading volume of 672,167 shares, compared to its average volume of 451,077. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick 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. First Financial Bancorp. has a 12-month low of $17.23 and a 12-month high of $28.23. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $22.44.

First Financial Bancorp. Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 2nd will be given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.42%. This is a boost from First Financial Bancorp.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.10%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Activity at First Financial Bancorp.

In other news, insider Richard S. Dennen sold 10,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.64, for a total value of $248,220.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 93,152 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,202,113.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.04% of the company’s stock.

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.