First Financial Bancorp. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.23 (NASDAQ:FFBC)

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 25th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 3rd will be paid a dividend of 0.23 per share by the bank on Monday, June 17th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.08%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 3rd.

First Financial Bancorp. has a dividend payout ratio of 40.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect First Financial Bancorp. to earn $2.26 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.92 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 40.7%.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of FFBC traded up $0.21 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $22.57. The company had a trading volume of 465,888 shares, compared to its average volume of 282,185. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $21.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.10 and a beta of 1.05. First Financial Bancorp. has a 1 year low of $17.23 and a 1 year high of $24.99.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The bank reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.59. The business had revenue of $287.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $201.79 million. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 11.35% and a net margin of 20.74%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.76 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on FFBC. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $24.00 target price on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Piper Sandler began coverage on First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $26.00 target price for the company.

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.