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

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, January 28th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given 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 dividend yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd.

First Financial Bancorp. has raised its dividend by an average of 0.7% annually over the last three years. First Financial Bancorp. has a dividend payout ratio of 36.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities 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. Stock Performance

FFBC opened at $27.66 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $2.64 billion, a PE ratio of 11.92 and a beta of 1.02. 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. has a 1 year low of $20.59 and a 1 year high of $31.18. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.62.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.71 earnings per share (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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.52 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other First Financial Bancorp. news, insider Richard S. Dennen sold 932 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total value of $27,960.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 74,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,241,600. The trade was a 1.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Scott T. Crawley sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.31, for a total value of $87,930.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,279 shares in the company, valued at approximately $565,067.49. This represents a 13.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 8,000 shares of company stock valued at $237,971. 2.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on FFBC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on First Financial Bancorp. from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $33.00 price target on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Monday.

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.