First Financial Bancorp. (FFBC) Expected to Announce Quarterly Earnings on Thursday

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) is expected to be releasing its earnings data after the market closes on Thursday, January 23rd. Analysts expect First Financial Bancorp. to post earnings of $0.65 per share and revenue of $216,325.00 billion for the quarter. Investors interested in registering for the company’s conference call can do so using this link.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.01. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 18.55% and a return on equity of 10.32%. The firm had revenue of $302.82 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $214.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.67 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect First Financial Bancorp. to post $3 EPS for the current fiscal year and $3 EPS for the next fiscal year.

First Financial Bancorp. Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FFBC opened at $28.07 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.68 billion, a PE ratio of 12.10 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $28.12 and a 200-day moving average of $26.42. First Financial Bancorp. has a one year low of $20.59 and a one year high of $31.18.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Financial Bancorp.

In other First Financial Bancorp. news, insider James R. Shank sold 3,700 shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.34, for a total transaction of $97,458.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $404,951.16. The trade was a 19.40 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Scott T. Crawley sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 19,279 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $565,067.49. This trade represents a 13.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,700 shares of company stock valued at $335,429 in the last three months. 2.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FFBC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stephens raised First Financial Bancorp. from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th.

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.