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First Financial Bancorp
(NASDAQ:FFBC)
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Rating:77Outperform
Price Target:
$37.00
â–²(13.39% Upside)
Action:Reiterated
Date:09/16/26
FFBC scores well primarily on solid financial performance (healthy profitability, improving leverage, and strong cash conversion) and a constructive earnings-call backdrop (record results, stable NIM outlook, loan growth, and synergy execution). Valuation adds support via a modest P/E and ~3% dividend yield. The main limiter is mixed near-term technical momentum (negative MACD and below the 50-day average), plus guided/expected elevated credit costs and fee-income timing volatility.
Positive Factors
Strong profitability and earnings power
Record adjusted earnings and approximately 20% adjusted return on tangible common equity demonstrate strong operating profitability and earning power. Sustained performance would support internal capital generation, balance-sheet resilience, shareholder returns, and continued investment in growth over the next several quarters.
Negative Factors
Higher credit costs expected ahead
The expected increase in net charge-offs would raise provisions and reduce earnings conversion even if loan growth remains healthy. Higher credit costs also signal that asset-quality benefits may not persist uniformly, making underwriting discipline and reserve management important to medium-term profitability.
Read all positive and negative factors
Positive Factors
Negative Factors
Strong profitability and earnings power
Record adjusted earnings and approximately 20% adjusted return on tangible common equity demonstrate strong operating profitability and earning power. Sustained performance would support internal capital generation, balance-sheet resilience, shareholder returns, and continued investment in growth over the next several quarters.
Read all positive factors
First Financial Bancorp (FFBC) vs. SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY)
Market Cap
$3.37B
Dividend Yield3.15%
Average Volume (3M)706.01K
Price to Earnings (P/E)11.2
Beta (1Y)0.83
Revenue Growth11.65%
EPS Growth13.28%
CountryUS
Employees2,199
SectorGeneral
Sector StrengthN/A
IndustryBanks - Regional
Share Statistics
EPS (TTM)2.87
Shares Outstanding104,968,940
10 Day Avg. Volume860,889
30 Day Avg. Volume706,010
Financial Highlights & Ratios
PEG Ratio0.83
Price to Book (P/B)0.86
Price to Sales (P/S)1.89
P/FCF Ratio7.49
Enterprise Value/Market Cap<0.01
Enterprise Value/Revenue<0.01
Enterprise Value/Gross Profit<0.01
Enterprise Value/Ebitda<0.01
Forecast
1Y Price Target
$36.67Price Target Upside12.37% Upside
Rating ConsensusHold
Number of Analyst Covering4
EPS Forecast (FY)3.05
Revenue Forecast (FY)$1.08B
First Financial Bancorp Business Overview & Revenue Model
Company Description
First Financial Bancorp. operates as the bank holding company for First Financial Bank that provides commercial banking and banking-related services to individuals and businesses in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, and Illinois. The company offers checkin...
How the Company Makes Money
FFBC primarily makes money through its banking subsidiary by generating net interest income and noninterest income.
1) Net interest income (core earnings driver): The bank earns interest and fees on loans and other interest-earning assets (e.g., ...
First Financial Bancorp Earnings Call Summary
Earnings Call Date:Jul 21, 2026
(Q2-2026)
| % Change Since: |
Next Earnings Date:Oct 22, 2026
Earnings Call Sentiment Positive
The call conveyed a broadly positive operating and capital story: record adjusted earnings, strong loan growth, healthy margins and improving credit metrics, plus successful integrations and an accretive M&A add-on (Finward) that expands footprint. Lowlights were largely operational/timing issues (lumpy fee income, temporary securities positioning, a Q2 pause on buybacks) and modest pressures on accretion/asset yields. On balance the positive financial results, credit trends, capital strength, expense synergies and strategic, accretive acquisition activity outweigh the transitory and manageable negatives.Positive Updates
Record Adjusted Earnings
Adjusted net income of $83.9 million ($0.80/share), a record for the company; adjusted return on assets of 1.5% and adjusted return on tangible common equity ~19.7%–20%; adjusted EPS increased 8% versus Q2 2025.
Negative Updates
Fee Income Below Expectations
Adjusted fee income declined sequentially and was below management's expectations due to lower foreign exchange swap income and reduced investment banking fees; fee lines noted to be lumpy and dependent on timing of deals.
Read all updates
Q2-2026 Updates
Positive
Negative
Record Adjusted Earnings
Adjusted net income of $83.9 million ($0.80/share), a record for the company; adjusted return on assets of 1.5% and adjusted return on tangible common equity ~19.7%–20%; adjusted EPS increased 8% versus Q2 2025.
Read all positive updates
Company Guidance
For the third quarter, management expects mid‑single‑digit annualized loan growth and low‑single‑digit core deposit growth, with net interest margin assumed to hold roughly flat in a 3.96%–4.01% range (assuming no rate changes and purchase accounting accretion in line with Q2); credit costs should approximate Q2 levels (Q2 net charge‑offs were 20 bps, ACL 1.38% with $8.2m provision) with net charge‑offs seen around 25–30 bps for the back half of the year and ACL coverage relatively stable, fee income is guided to $74m–$77m (including $15m–$17m FX and $22m–$24m leasing), noninterest expense to $149m–$152m, and management expects full Westfield cost savings at the Q3 run‑rate while BankFinancial savings will phase in through Q3 with full realization by quarter end.First Financial Bancorp Financial Statement Overview
Summary
Income Statement
78
Positive
Balance Sheet
74
Positive
Cash Flow
83
Very Positive
| Breakdown | TTM | Dec 2025 | Dec 2024 | Dec 2023 | Dec 2022 | Dec 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Income Statement | ||||||
| Total Revenue | 1.33B | 1.26B | 1.23B | 1.12B | 774.65M | 654.72M |
| Gross Profit | 929.39M | 861.82M | 787.92M | 797.09M | 697.07M | 641.75M |
| EBITDA | 409.73M | 343.36M | 306.74M | 356.39M | 280.53M | 280.49M |
| Net Income | 285.22M | 255.60M | 228.83M | 255.86M | 217.61M | 205.16M |
Balance Sheet | ||||||
| Total Assets | 22.44B | 21.13B | 18.57B | 17.53B | 17.00B | 16.33B |
| Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments | 5.87B | 4.15B | 3.36B | 4.03B | 4.01B | 4.64B |
| Total Debt | 952.55M | 1.19B | 1.10B | 1.28B | 1.63B | 706.03M |
| Total Liabilities | 19.45B | 18.36B | 16.13B | 15.26B | 14.96B | 14.07B |
| Stockholders Equity | 2.99B | 2.77B | 2.44B | 2.27B | 2.04B | 2.26B |
Cash Flow | ||||||
| Free Cash Flow | 769.16M | 317.10M | 241.08M | 462.83M | 187.07M | 372.82M |
| Operating Cash Flow | 792.28M | 337.86M | 262.16M | 486.97M | 200.85M | 388.16M |
| Investing Cash Flow | -760.90M | -546.72M | -1.00B | -701.26M | -883.11M | -510.03M |
| Financing Cash Flow | -35.21M | 213.16M | 699.08M | 219.85M | 669.73M | 110.85M |
First Financial Bancorp Technical Analysis
Negative
32.63
Price Trends
33.36
Negative
32.22
Negative
29.69
Positive
Market Momentum
-0.26
Positive
39.81
Neutral
35.06
Neutral
Evaluating momentum and price trends is crucial in stock analysis to make informed investment decisions. For FFBC, the sentiment is Negative. The current price of 32.63 is above the 20-day moving average (MA) of 32.50, below the 50-day MA of 33.36, and above the 200-day MA of 29.69, indicating a neutral trend. The MACD of -0.26 indicates Positive momentum. The RSI at 39.81 is Neutral, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 35.06 is Neutral, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Negative sentiment for FFBC.
First Financial Bancorp Risk Analysis
First Financial Bancorp disclosed 42 risk factors in its most recent earnings report. First Financial Bancorp reported the most risks in the "Finance & Corporate" category.
Finance & Corporate - Financial and accounting risks. Risks related to the execution of corporate activity and strategy
Latest Risks Added 0 New Risks
First Financial Bancorp Peers Comparison
UnderperformOutperform
Sector (55)
Name | Overall Rating | Market Cap | P/E Ratio | ROE | Dividend Yield | Revenue Growth | EPS Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
82 Outperform | $1.85B | 12.96 | 12.17% | 2.48% | 21.78% | 43.92% | |
80 Outperform | $2.57B | 13.06 | 7.26% | 3.57% | 5.05% | -19.06% | |
77 Outperform | $3.37B | 11.18 | 10.07% | 3.15% | 11.65% | 13.28% | |
75 Outperform | $3.31B | 16.30 | 12.46% | 3.06% | 14.45% | 8.54% | |
75 Outperform | $3.78B | 11.22 | 8.72% | 3.86% | 31.11% | 107.51% | |
74 Outperform | $2.47B | 15.75 | 13.56% | 1.63% | 9.30% | 15.23% | |
55 Neutral | $6.65B | 3.83 | -15.92% | 6.20% | 10.91% | 7.18% |
* General Sector Average
FFBC
First Financial Bancorp
32.09
6.97
27.75%
FRME
First Merchants
40.87
2.45
6.39%
GABC
German American Bancorp
49.13
9.91
25.26%
PRK
Park National
183.37
22.78
14.19%
SYBT
Stock Yards Bancorp
79.37
6.08
8.30%
WSBC
WesBanco
39.37
8.66
28.21%
First Financial Bancorp Corporate Events
Business Operations and StrategyExecutive/Board Changes
First Financial Bancorp Announces Executive Leadership Restructuring
Positive
Sep 15, 2026
On September 15, 2026, First Financial Bancorp. announced a slate of leadership promotions and expanded executive responsibilities intended to deepen succession planning and reinforce its management bench. Chief executive officer Archie Brown will...
Business Operations and StrategyM&A TransactionsRegulatory Filings and Compliance
First Financial Bancorp Details Risks Around Finward Merger
Neutral
Jul 27, 2026
First Financial Bancorp’s executives plan to use a second-quarter 2026 investor presentation in meetings with investors and analysts, outlining assumptions and expectations for future operations and a proposed merger with Finward Bancorp. Th...
Business Operations and StrategyStock BuybackDividendsFinancial DisclosuresM&A Transactions
First Financial Bancorp Announces Record Earnings and Merger
Positive
Jul 21, 2026
On July 21, 2026, First Financial Bancorp reported record second-quarter 2026 earnings, with net income of $76.5 million, earnings per diluted share of $0.73, or $0.80 on an adjusted basis, and an adjusted return on assets of 1.50%. The bank poste...
Glossary
BuyA stock rated as a "Buy" is expected to perform better than the overall market or a specific benchmark over the near-to-medium term. This rating suggests the stock is likely to deliver higher returns compared to other stocks in the same sector or market index. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
HoldA stock rated as a "Hold" is expected to perform in line with the overall market or a specific benchmark. This rating indicates that the stock is neither particularly compelling nor unfavorable for investment. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
SellA stock rated as a "Sell" is expected to perform worse than the overall market or a specific benchmark over the near-to-medium term. This rating suggests the stock may deliver lower returns compared to other stocks in the same sector or market index. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
Disclaimer
This AI Analyst Stock Report is automatically generated by our AI systems using advanced algorithms and publicly available financial, technical, and market data. While the information provided aims to be accurate and insightful, it is intended for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. Any content created by an AI (Artificial Intelligence) system may contain inaccuracies and/or contain errors. Investing in stocks carries inherent risks, and past performance is not indicative of future results. This report does not account for your personal financial circumstances, objectives, or risk tolerance. Always conduct your own research or consult with a qualified financial advisor before making investment decisions. The analysis and recommendations provided are based on historical and current data and may not fully reflect future market conditions or unexpected developments. Neither the creators of this report nor its affiliated entities guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of the information presented. Use this report at your own discretion and risk.