First Financial Bancorp. (FFBC) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.24 on March 17th

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, January 28th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of 0.24 per share by the bank on Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd.

First Financial Bancorp. has increased its dividend by an average of 0.7% per year over the last three years. First Financial Bancorp. has a dividend payout ratio of 36.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect First Financial Bancorp. to earn $2.51 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.96 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 38.2%.

First Financial Bancorp. Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock opened at $27.66 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.62. First Financial Bancorp. has a fifty-two week low of $20.59 and a fifty-two week high of $31.18. The firm has a market cap of $2.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.92 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. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.06. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 10.32% and a net margin of 18.55%. On average, equities analysts forecast that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on FFBC. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Monday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on First Financial Bancorp. from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $33.00 price objective on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research report on Friday, January 24th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Richard S. Dennen sold 932 shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total transaction of $27,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 74,720 shares in the company, valued at $2,241,600. The trade was a 1.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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 shares were sold at an average price of $29.31, for a total value of $87,930.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 19,279 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $565,067.49. This represents a 13.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 8,000 shares of company stock worth $237,971. 2.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.