First Financial Bancorp. Common Stock (FFBC)

FairStock Score: 51/100 — MIXED

Key Financials

AI Analysis

AI-generated, general educational analysis — not personal investment advice.

I look at a regional bank first as a conservative lender and only then as a stock. First Financial Bancorp is a $3.2B market-cap bank holding company operating in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, and Illinois. Its filed results show net income of $255.6M in fiscal 2025, $228.8M in fiscal 2024, and $255.9M in fiscal 2023; diluted EPS was $2.66, $2.40, and $2.69. That is not dramatic growth, but it is reasonably consistent. In the latest quarter ended June 30, 2026, net income was $76.5M and diluted EPS $0.73, compared with $70.0M and $0.73 in the quarter ended June 30, 2025. So earnings are moving up, though per-share progress is modest. The moat, if any, is local deposit relationships and switching costs in its four-state footprint, not a wide technological or scale advantage. FairStock's calculations at the 2026-10-13 close show a P/E of 10.94, P/B of 1.09, ROE of 10.29%, PEG of 1.19, and a Piotroski F-Score of 4/9. The P/B and P/E suggest a fair-to-slightly-cheap price for a modestly profitable bank, not a bargain with a margin of safety. The 3.26% dividend yield is attractive, but dividends depend on capital and credit, and the data do not include CET1, net interest margin, credit losses, or combined ratio. The Lynch category is STALWART, based on 10.4% annual profit growth over five years, which fits a steady but unspectacular institution. I would want evidence on underwriting and capital before calling it sturdy.

In plain English: First Financial Bancorp is a regional bank holding company that serves people and businesses in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, and Illinois. It has earned steady profits recently: net income was $76.5 million in the quarter ended June 30, 2026, up from $70.0 million in the quarter ended June 30, 2025, according to filed results. At the October 13, 2026 close, the stock looks roughly fair to modestly cheap: it sells for about 11 times the past year’s profit and just above the company’s accounting value, with a 3.26% dividend yield.

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Data as of 2026-10-13 close · note generated 2026-10-15 · model deepseek-flash

Sources (SEC EDGAR): fiscal Q2 2026 10-Q (period ended 2026-06-30) · fiscal Q1 2026 10-Q (period ended 2026-03-31) · fiscal Q3 2025 10-Q (period ended 2025-09-30) · fiscal Q2 2025 10-Q (period ended 2025-06-30) · FY2025 10-K (period ended 2025-12-31) · FY2024 10-K (period ended 2024-12-31) · FY2023 10-K (period ended 2023-12-31)

Fundamentals from company filings and market-data providers; prices are end-of-day, not real-time. AI-generated analysis is general and educational — not personal investment advice. Scoring methodology · Score test · Disclaimer