First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.06 EPS

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The bank reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.06, Zacks reports. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 10.32% and a net margin of 18.55%.

First Financial Bancorp. Trading Up 0.1 %

FFBC traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $27.99. 475,149 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 453,294. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.06 and a beta of 1.02. First Financial Bancorp. has a one year low of $20.59 and a one year high of $31.18. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $28.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Stephens upgraded shares of First Financial Bancorp. from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised 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.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Richard S. Dennen sold 4,068 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.01, for a total transaction of $122,080.68. Following the sale, the insider now owns 70,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,120,266.52. This trade represents a 5.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider James R. Shank sold 3,700 shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.34, for a total value of $97,458.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,374 shares in the company, valued at $404,951.16. This trade represents a 19.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,700 shares of company stock valued at $335,429 in the last ninety days. 2.04% of the stock is owned by 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.