First Financial Bancorp Stock Buy Hold or Sell Recommendation

FFBC Stock  USD 22.60  0.65  2.96%   
Given the investment horizon of 90 days and your conservative risk appetite, our recommendation regarding First Financial Bancorp is 'Sell'. Macroaxis provides First Financial buy-hold-or-sell recommendation only in the context of selected investment horizon and investor attitude towards risk assumed by holding FFBC positions. The advice algorithm takes into account all of First Financial's available fundamental, technical, and predictive indicators you will find on this site. Key drivers impacting First Financial's buy or sell advice are summarized below:
Real Value
22.62
Target Price
23.25
Hype Value
21.92
Market Value
22.6
A buy or sell recommendation provided by Macroaxis is an automated directive regarding whether to purchase or sell First Financial Bancorp given historical horizon and risk tolerance towards First Financial. When Macroaxis issues a 'buy' or 'sell' recommendation for First Financial Bancorp, the advice is generated through an automated system that utilizes algorithms and statistical models.
  
Check out First Financial Analyst Recommendation to compare Macroaxis Buy or Sell Recommendation with the current analyst consensus. To check ratings for multiple equity instruments, please use the Instant Ratings tool.
For information on how to trade First Stock refer to our How to Trade First Stock guide.
In addition, we conduct extensive research on individual companies such as First and provide practical buy, sell, or hold advice based on investors' investing horizon and their risk tolerance towards First Financial Bancorp. Also, note that the market value of any company could be tightly coupled with the direction of predictive economic indicators such as signals in bureau of labor statistics.

Execute First Financial Buy or Sell Advice

The First recommendation should be used to complement the buy-or-sell advice compiled from the current analysts' consensus on First Financial Bancorp. Macroaxis does not own or have any residual interests in First Financial Bancorp or other equities on which the buy-or-sell advice is provided. Please provide your input below to execute First Financial's advice using the current market data and latest reported fundamentals.

Time Horizon

Risk Tolerance

Execute Advice
Sell First FinancialBuy First Financial
Sell

Market Performance

Very WeakDetails

Volatility

Very steadyDetails

Hype Condition

Low keyDetails

Current Valuation

Fairly ValuedDetails

Odds Of Distress

LowDetails

Economic Sensitivity

Actively responds to the marketDetails

Investor Sentiment

ImpartialDetails

Analyst Consensus

BuyDetails

Financial Strenth (F Score)

HealthyDetails

Financial Leverage

InapplicableDetails

Reporting Quality (M-Score)

Unlikely ManipulatorDetails
For the selected time horizon First Financial Bancorp has a Mean Deviation of 1.32, Semi Deviation of 1.67, Standard Deviation of 1.84, Variance of 3.38, Downside Variance of 2.88 and Semi Variance of 2.79
Our investment recommendation module complements current analysts and expert consensus on First Financial. It analyzes the firm potential to grow using all fundamental, technical, and market related data available at the time. To make sure First Financial is not overpriced, please confirm all First Financial Bancorp fundamentals, including its price to earning, gross profit, cash per share, as well as the relationship between the price to sales and net income . Given that First Financial Bancorp has a number of shares shorted of 1.27 M, we urge you to verify First Financial Bancorp market performance and probability of bankruptcy to ensure the company can sustain itself in the current economic cycle given your prevailing risk tolerance and investing horizon.

First Financial Trading Alerts and Improvement Suggestions

First Financial generated a negative expected return over the last 90 days
Over 78.0% of the company shares are owned by institutional investors
On 15th of March 2024 First Financial paid $ 0.23 per share dividend to its current shareholders
Latest headline from zacks.com: Enterprise Financial Services Q1 Earnings and Revenues Miss Estimates

First Financial Returns Distribution Density

The distribution of First Financial's historical returns is an attempt to chart the uncertainty of First Financial's future price movements. The chart of the probability distribution of First Financial daily returns describes the distribution of returns around its average expected value. We use First Financial Bancorp price's Value At Risk and its Upside Potential as a relative measure of the distribution. The graph of the distribution of First Financial returns is essential to provide solid investment advice for First Financial.
Mean Return
0.01
Value At Risk
-2.77
Potential Upside
3.79
Standard Deviation
1.84
   Return Density   
       Distribution  
Investment risk management requires an estimate of the probability of extreme price changes. Therefore, the correct representation of the distribution of First Financial historical returns presented in an easy-to-digest graphical form helps investors and money managers understand the risk-reward trade-off of different investement strategies.

First Stock Institutional Investors

Have you ever been surprised when a price of an equity instrument such as First Financial is soaring high without any particular reason? This is usually happening because many institutional investors are aggressively trading First Financial Bancorp backward and forwards among themselves. First Financial's institutional investor refers to the entity that pools money to purchase First Financial's securities or originates loans. Institutional investors include commercial and private banks, credit unions, insurance companies, pension funds, hedge funds, endowments, and mutual funds. Operating companies that invest excess capital in these types of assets may also be included in the term and may influence corporate governance by exercising voting rights in their investments.
Shares
Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc2023-12-31
1.2 M
Morgan Stanley - Brokerage Accounts2023-12-31
904.5 K
Manufacturers Life Insurance Co2023-12-31
897.6 K
First Financial Bank, N.a. -tr Division2023-12-31
881.6 K
Bank Of America Corp2023-12-31
880.2 K
Goldman Sachs Group Inc2023-12-31
753.6 K
Fisher Asset Management, Llc2023-12-31
668.5 K
Norges Bank2023-12-31
646.2 K
Bahl & Gaynor Inc.2023-12-31
586 K
Blackrock Inc2023-12-31
13.7 M
Vanguard Group Inc2023-12-31
10.9 M
Note, although First Financial's institutional investors appear to be way more sophisticated than retail investors, it remains unclear if professional active investment managers can reliably enhance risk-adjusted returns by an amount that exceeds fees and expenses.

First Financial Cash Flow Accounts

201920202021202220232024 (projected)
Change In Cash(35.5M)30.4M(11.0M)(12.5M)5.6M4.3M
Free Cash Flow165.4M93.4M375.1M157.6M454.3M477.0M
Depreciation28.1M33.3M32.1M38.8M37.8M39.7M
Other Non Cash Items34.2M52.8M12.4M9.1M28.8M17.5M
Dividends Paid89.1M89.7M87.3M86.6M87.2M91.5M
Capital Expenditures20.9M16.5M15.3M43.3M24.1M13.3M
Net Income198.1M155.8M205.2M217.6M255.9M268.7M
End Period Cash Flow200.7M231.1M220.0M207.5M213.1M172.2M
Change To Inventory26.2M(94.5M)(112.7M)114.0M102.6M107.7M
Investments(181.4M)(1.2B)(389.3M)(846.9M)(659.4M)(692.4M)
Change Receivables2.1M(9.7M)6.5M(19.1M)(17.2M)(16.4M)
Net Borrowings115.8M(790.1M)(333.8M)926.9M834.2M876.0M
Change To Netincome39.5M38.8M5.8M13.4M15.4M14.8M

First Financial Greeks

Most traded equities are subject to two types of risk - systematic (i.e., market) and unsystematic (i.e., nonmarket or company-specific) risk. Unsystematic risk is the risk that events specific to First Financial or Banks sector will adversely affect the stock's price. This type of risk can be diversified away by owning several different stocks in different industries whose stock prices have shown a small correlation to each other. On the other hand, systematic risk is the risk that First Financial's price will be affected by overall stock market movements and cannot be diversified away. So, no matter how many positions you have, you cannot eliminate market risk. However, you can measure a First stock's historical response to market movements and buy it if you are comfortable with its volatility direction. Beta and standard deviation are two commonly used measures to help you make the right decision.
α
Alpha over NYSE Composite
-0.13
β
Beta against NYSE Composite1.60
σ
Overall volatility
1.84
Ir
Information ratio -0.04

First Financial Volatility Alert

First Financial Bancorp has relatively low volatility with skewness of 0.05 and kurtosis of 0.91. Understanding different market volatility trends often help investors to time the market. Properly using volatility indicators enable traders to measure First Financial's stock risk against market volatility during both bullish and bearish trends. The higher level of volatility that comes with bear markets can directly impact First Financial's stock price while adding stress to investors as they watch their shares' value plummet. This usually forces investors to rebalance their portfolios by buying different financial instruments as prices fall.

First Financial Fundamentals Vs Peers

Comparing First Financial's fundamentals to the average values of its peers is one of the most widely used and accepted methods of equity analyses. It helps to analyze First Financial's direct or indirect competition across all of the common fundamentals between First Financial and the related equities. This way, we can detect undervalued stocks with similar characteristics as First Financial or determine the stocks which would be an excellent addition to an existing portfolio. Peer analysis of First Financial's fundamental indicators could also be used in its relative valuation, which is a method of valuing First Financial by comparing valuation metrics with those of similar companies.
    
 Better Than Average     
    
 Worse Than Average Compare First Financial to competition
FundamentalsFirst FinancialPeer Average
Return On Equity0.12-0.31
Return On Asset0.0148-0.14
Profit Margin0.32 %(1.27) %
Operating Margin0.41 %(5.51) %
Current Valuation2.38 B16.62 B
Shares Outstanding95.47 M571.82 M
Shares Owned By Insiders1.98 %10.09 %
Shares Owned By Institutions78.10 %39.21 %
Number Of Shares Shorted1.27 M4.71 M
Price To Earning12.77 X28.72 X
Price To Book0.89 X9.51 X
Price To Sales2.53 X11.42 X
Revenue1.12 B9.43 B
Gross Profit673.25 M27.38 B
EBITDA10.4 M3.9 B
Net Income255.86 M570.98 M
Cash And Equivalents584 M2.7 B
Cash Per Share6.16 X5.01 X
Total Debt1.36 B5.32 B
Debt To Equity9.07 %48.70 %
Book Value Per Share23.84 X1.93 K
Cash Flow From Operations478.4 M971.22 M
Short Ratio3.78 X4.00 X
Earnings Per Share2.69 X3.12 X
Price To Earnings To Growth1.71 X4.89 X
Target Price25.3
Number Of Employees2.17 K18.84 K
Beta1.04-0.15
Market Capitalization2.1 B19.03 B
Total Asset17.53 B29.47 B
Retained Earnings1.14 B9.33 B
Annual Yield0.04 %
Five Year Return3.96 %
Note: Disposition of 952 shares by Karen Woods of First Financial at 21.62 subject to Rule 16b-3 [view details]

First Financial Market Momentum

Traders often use several daily momentume indicators to supplement a more traditional technical analysis when analyzing securities such as First . With many different options, investors must choose the best indicators for them and familiarize themselves with how they work. We suggest combining traditional momentum indicators with more near-term forms of technical analysis such as Accumulation Distribution or Daily Balance Of Power. With their quantitative nature, daily value technical indicators can also be incorporated into your automated trading systems.

About First Financial Buy or Sell Advice

When is the right time to buy or sell First Financial Bancorp? Buying financial instruments such as First Stock isn't very hard. However, what challenging for most investors is doing it at the right time to beat the market. Proper market timing is something most people cannot do without sophisticated tools, which help to isolate the right opportunities. Macroaxis provides hands-on modules to deliver winning trades and diversify your portfolios on a daily basis. Most of our advising modules are very easy to use and apply.
Please read more on our stock advisor page.
 2021 2022 2023 2024 (projected)
Short and Long Term Debt Total654.8M1.6B1.4B1.4B
Total Assets16.3B17.0B17.5B18.4B

Use Investing Ideas to Build Portfolios

In addition to having First Financial in your portfolios, you can quickly add positions using our predefined set of ideas and optimize them against your very unique investing style. A single investing idea is a collection of funds, stocks, ETFs, or cryptocurrencies that are programmatically selected from a pull of investment themes. After you determine your investment opportunity, you can then find an optimal portfolio that will maximize potential returns on the chosen idea or minimize its exposure to market volatility.

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Housewares
Housewares Theme
Companies making housewares accessories and providing houseware services. The Housewares theme has 38 constituents at this time.
You can either use a buy-and-hold strategy to lock in the entire theme or actively trade it to take advantage of the short-term price volatility of individual constituents. Macroaxis can help you discover thousands of investment opportunities in different asset classes. In addition, you can partner with us for reliable portfolio optimization as you plan to utilize Housewares Theme or any other thematic opportunities.
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When determining whether First Financial Bancorp offers a strong return on investment in its stock, a comprehensive analysis is essential. The process typically begins with a thorough review of First Financial's financial statements, including income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements, to assess its financial health. Key financial ratios are used to gauge profitability, efficiency, and growth potential of First Financial Bancorp Stock. Outlined below are crucial reports that will aid in making a well-informed decision on First Financial Bancorp Stock:
Check out First Financial Analyst Recommendation to compare Macroaxis Buy or Sell Recommendation with the current analyst consensus. To check ratings for multiple equity instruments, please use the Instant Ratings tool.
For information on how to trade First Stock refer to our How to Trade First Stock guide.
Note that the First Financial Bancorp information on this page should be used as a complementary analysis to other First Financial's statistical models used to find the right mix of equity instruments to add to your existing portfolios or create a brand new portfolio. You can also try the Portfolio Dashboard module to portfolio dashboard that provides centralized access to all your investments.

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When running First Financial's price analysis, check to measure First Financial's market volatility, profitability, liquidity, solvency, efficiency, growth potential, financial leverage, and other vital indicators. We have many different tools that can be utilized to determine how healthy First Financial is operating at the current time. Most of First Financial's value examination focuses on studying past and present price action to predict the probability of First Financial's future price movements. You can analyze the entity against its peers and the financial market as a whole to determine factors that move First Financial's price. Additionally, you may evaluate how the addition of First Financial to your portfolios can decrease your overall portfolio volatility.
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Is First Financial's industry expected to grow? Or is there an opportunity to expand the business' product line in the future? Factors like these will boost the valuation of First Financial. If investors know First will grow in the future, the company's valuation will be higher. The financial industry is built on trying to define current growth potential and future valuation accurately. All the valuation information about First Financial listed above have to be considered, but the key to understanding future value is determining which factors weigh more heavily than others.
Quarterly Earnings Growth
(0.18)
Dividend Share
0.92
Earnings Share
2.69
Revenue Per Share
8.481
Quarterly Revenue Growth
(0.04)
The market value of First Financial Bancorp is measured differently than its book value, which is the value of First that is recorded on the company's balance sheet. Investors also form their own opinion of First Financial's value that differs from its market value or its book value, called intrinsic value, which is First Financial's true underlying value. Investors use various methods to calculate intrinsic value and buy a stock when its market value falls below its intrinsic value. Because First Financial's market value can be influenced by many factors that don't directly affect First Financial's underlying business (such as a pandemic or basic market pessimism), market value can vary widely from intrinsic value.
Please note, there is a significant difference between First Financial's value and its price as these two are different measures arrived at by different means. Investors typically determine if First Financial is a good investment by looking at such factors as earnings, sales, fundamental and technical indicators, competition as well as analyst projections. However, First Financial's price is the amount at which it trades on the open market and represents the number that a seller and buyer find agreeable to each party.