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

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

First Financial Bancorp. has a 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. Trading Up 0.9 %

FFBC traded up $0.21 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $22.57. The stock had a trading volume of 465,888 shares, compared to its average volume of 282,185. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $21.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.15 billion, a price-to-earnings 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. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The bank reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.59. The business had revenue of $287.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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, research analysts forecast that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on FFBC. 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 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $24.00 target price on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a report on Tuesday, April 9th.

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.