First Financial Bancorp. to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.24 (NASDAQ:FFBC)

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, October 24th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of 0.24 per share by the bank on Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.78%.

First Financial Bancorp. has a dividend payout ratio of 39.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect First Financial Bancorp. to earn $2.53 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 37.9%.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Performance

Shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock opened at $25.43 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $23.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. First Financial Bancorp. has a one year low of $17.23 and a one year high of $28.25. The company has a market cap of $2.43 billion, a PE ratio of 10.25 and a beta of 0.99.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The bank reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 19.67% and a return on equity of 10.69%. The company had revenue of $314.22 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $203.50 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.72 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at First Financial Bancorp.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.