At a glance
First Financial Bancorp is worth $3.43B, about 12 times its fiscal 2025 earnings. Revenue grew 7.6% to $899.5M in fiscal 2025, with 28.4% kept as profit; over 5 years it has grown 6.9% a year. It pays a 3.09% dividend yield, and returned $553.3M to shareholders in dividends and buybacks over FY2021–FY2025. The stock returned +40.7% over the past year with dividends reinvested and +10.7% a year over five years, against +11.5% and +11.7% for the S&P 500. At its worst it fell 48.0% in the 2020 crash (S&P 500: 33.7%) and 27.4% in the 2022 bear market (S&P 500: 24.5%), and was back at its earlier high 11 months and 4 months after the lows.
The business in plain English
First Financial Bancorp, based in Cincinnati, Ohio, is a mid-sized regional bank holding company: a company that owns a bank. Its bank, First Financial Bank, dates to 1863. It takes deposits from people and businesses and lends the money out as business loans, commercial real estate loans, home mortgages, car loans and home equity lines of credit. As of December 31, 2025, it had about 2,199 employees, mostly in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and Illinois.
It also runs specialty businesses, several of them nationwide. Summit Funding Group offers equipment leasing. Oak Street Funding lends to insurance businesses, investment advisers, accountants and auto finance companies. First Franchise Capital lends to restaurant franchisees. Agile Premium Finance, bought in February 2024 for $96.9 million, lends businesses money to pay property and casualty insurance premiums. Bannockburn Global Forex handles currency payments and hedging for small and mid-sized firms. Its wealth management unit offers trust and investment services.
Most revenue is net interest income: the gap between the interest it earns on loans and investments and the interest it pays on deposits. In 2025 that was $642 million of $899 million in revenue. The other $257 million was noninterest income, which includes fees. The 10-K does not split revenue by segment or region. As of June 30, 2026, the bank held $13.5 billion of loans and $17.6 billion of deposits.
Price history
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FFBC +40.7% over the year to Oct 28, 2026, total return with dividends reinvested.
Latest results
- In Q2 FY2026 (ended Jun 30, 2026), revenue was $264.2M, up 16.7% from a year earlier, and net income was $76.5M (+9.2%).
- For fiscal 2025, revenue was $899.5M (+7.6% year over year; +6.9% a year from FY2020 to FY2025) with a 28.4% net margin.
Financial health check
| Revenue growth a year (FY2020–FY2025) | +6.9% good |
|---|---|
| Return on equity | 9.2% watch |
| Net income / revenue | 28.4% good |
| Deposits | $17.58B |
| Loans | $13.55B |
| Fiscal year | Revenue | Net income | Free cash flow |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2020 | $645.6M | $155.8M | — |
| FY2021 | $623.6M | $205.2M | — |
| FY2022 | $708.8M | $217.6M | — |
| FY2023 | $840.2M | $255.9M | — |
| FY2024 | $835.6M | $228.8M | — |
| FY2025 | $899.5M | $255.6M | — |
Valuation snapshot
| Market value | $3.43B |
|---|---|
| P/E ratio | 12.3 |
| Dividend yield | 3.09% |
Rank among 1514 US companies
Market value at each year end
First Financial Bancorp’s market value went from $1.76B at the end of 2016 to $3.43B on Oct 28, 2026, up 95%; since the end of 2025 it is up 39%.
Show as a table
| Year end | Market value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 28, 2026 | $3.43B | +39.1% |
| 2025 | $2.47B | -4.0% |
| 2024 | $2.57B | +13.6% |
| 2023 | $2.26B | -1.7% |
| 2022 | $2.30B | +0.5% |
| 2021 | $2.29B | +33.0% |
| 2020 | $1.72B | -32.0% |
| 2019 | $2.53B | +8.9% |
| 2018 | $2.32B | +42.0% |
| 2017 | $1.64B | -7.2% |
| 2016 | $1.76B |
Price behavior
| YTD | 1 yr | 3 yr | 5 yr | 10 yr | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FFBC price data to Oct 28, 2026 | +33.9% | +40.7% | +26.3% | +10.7% | +8.4% |
Show as a table
| Year | Price data |
|---|---|
| 2026 (to date) | +33.9% |
| 2025 | -3.3% |
| 2024 | +17.6% |
| 2023 | +2.4% |
| 2022 | +3.4% |
| 2021 | +44.6% |
| 2020 | -26.9% |
| 2019 | +11.3% |
| 2018 | -7.6% |
| 2017 | -5.0% |
| 2016 | +62.4% |
| 2015 | +1.6% |
| 2014 | +10.6% |
| 2013 | +26.6% |
| 2012 | -6.2% |
| 2011 | -5.5% |
| 2010 | +30.0% |
| 2009 | +23.2% |
| 2008 | +15.2% |
| 2007 | -27.9% |
| 2006 | -1.4% |
| 2008 financial crisis stocks fell Oct 9, 2007 – Mar 9, 2009 | Lost 56.1% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 61.2%, back to its old high 8.8 months after the low |
|---|---|
| 2020 COVID crash stocks fell Feb 19, 2020 – Mar 23, 2020 | Lost 47.6% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 48%, back to its old high 11.1 months after the low |
| 2022 bear market stocks fell Jan 3, 2022 – Oct 12, 2022 | Lost 8.3% over that stretch · deepest drop along the way 27.4%, back to its old high 3.6 months after the low |
Insider activity
Form 4 filings from 2025-10-29 to 2026-10-29 (25 read): 0 open-market purchases and 6 sales ($1.3M).
| Date | Insider | Type | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 26, 2026 | Thomas Murray Obrien Director | sell | $527K |
| Jun 8, 2026 | Archie M Brown President & CEO, Director | sell | $309K |
| Sep 3, 2026 | Archie M Brown President & CEO, Director | sell | $165K |
| Jul 31, 2026 | James M Anderson Chief Financial Officer | sell | $135K |
| Aug 3, 2026 | Scott T Crawley Controller & Prin Actg Officer | sell | $92K |
Who owns it
Large shareholders (13G filings)
| Vanguard Portfolio Management | 6.04% | Mar 31, 2026 |
| NOMURA ASSET MANAGEMENT INTERNATIONAL INC. | 6% | Dec 31, 2025 |
| STATE STREET CORPORATION | 5.3% | Mar 31, 2026 |
| Vanguard Capital Management | 5.03% | Mar 31, 2026 |
ETFs with the most weight in FFBC
| XSVM Invesco S&P SmallCap Value with Momentum ETF | 0.75% |
| KBE SPDR S&P Bank ETF | 0.73% |
| PSCF Invesco S&P SmallCap Financials ETF | 0.69% |
| SMIG Bahl & Gaynor Small/Mid Cap Income Growth ETF | 0.6% |
| SVAL iShares US Small Cap Value Factor ETF | 0.5% |
| FYT First Trust Small Cap Value AlphaDEX Fund | 0.38% |
| KRE SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF | 0.37% |
| AVSC Avantis U.S Small Cap Equity ETF | 0.32% |
What could go wrong
- Local property and consumer loans could sour. Swings in local housing, commercial real estate and construction markets could push up charge-offs (loans written off as uncollectable). Job losses and weaker income growth in its markets would hurt consumer loans.
- Rate swings can squeeze lending profits. Most 2025 revenue came from net interest income. Fast or volatile rate moves may weaken its hedges (trades meant to offset rate risk) and shrink the gap between loan income and deposit costs.
- Rates staying high could raise defaults. If short-term interest rates stay high longer than expected, or rise again because of inflation, more borrowers could struggle. That could mean more late payments and more loans written off.
- Trouble at other banks can spook depositors. Failures at unrelated banks can shake public trust in all banks and push depositors to move money. The company says this could hurt its finances and share price even when the trouble is elsewhere.
- Tariffs and trade shifts could hurt borrowers. Changing trade policy and tariffs can raise what customers pay for goods and disrupt supply chains. That can affect deposit levels, demand for loans and borrowers' ability to repay.
- New Fed leadership could change the rules. The Federal Reserve regulates bank holding companies. The 10-K noted Chair Jerome Powell's term ending May 15, 2026, with Kevin Warsh nominated to succeed him. New leaders could shift regulation and credit policy.
Recent events
- Executive or board change; Investor presentation or announcement
- Quarterly results released
- Executive or board change; Investor presentation or announcement
- Investor presentation or announcement
- Major agreement signed; Quarterly results released; Investor presentation or announcement
- Executive or board change; Shareholder vote results
- Investor presentation or announcement
- Quarterly results released; Other company announcement
- Investor presentation or announcement
- Quarterly results released
For income and retirement investors
First Financial paid $0.98 per share in dividends for 2025, about 37% of earnings, which leaves a cushion if profits dip. The yield was 3.09% as of October 28, 2026. Growth has been slow: the dividend held at $0.92 from 2020 through 2023, then rose to $0.94 in 2024 and $0.98 in 2025, a two-year streak of increases. The company bought back $108 million of stock in 2021 and none in 2022 or 2023, while the share count rose 12% from November 2021 to August 2026.
The stock has fallen hard in crises. It lost about 61% in the 2008 financial crisis and got back to its earlier high by December 2009. It dropped 48% in the 2020 COVID crash, taking about 11 months to recover. It fell about 27% in 2022 and recovered by that October. That matters for anyone who may need to sell during a slump. A single bank stock carries more risk than a diversified fund spread across many companies.
Questions investors ask
How does First Financial Bancorp make money?
Mainly by lending. First Financial takes in deposits and lends money to businesses and consumers, earning more interest than it pays out. That net interest income was $642 million of its $899 million in revenue in 2025. The other $257 million was noninterest income, which includes fees. It also runs specialty businesses, including equipment leasing, restaurant franchise loans, insurance premium financing and currency hedging through Bannockburn Global Forex.
Does First Financial Bancorp raise its dividend every year?
No. The dividend stayed at $0.92 per share each year from 2020 through 2023. It rose to $0.94 in 2024 and $0.98 in 2025, a two-year streak of increases. From 2020 to 2025, the regular dividend grew about 1.3% a year. The 2025 dividend equaled about 37% of earnings. The dividend yield, or yearly dividends divided by the share price, was 3.09% as of October 28, 2026.
How has FFBC stock performed?
Its share price rose 40.7% in the year to October 28, 2026. Over longer stretches the gains were smaller: about 10.7% a year over five years and 8.4% a year over ten. Results vary a lot from one calendar year to the next. The stock fell 26.9% in 2020, rose 44.6% in 2021 and slipped 3.3% in 2025. On October 28, 2026, its price-to-earnings ratio, the share price divided by 2025 earnings per share, was 12.3.
Which ETFs hold First Financial Bancorp stock?
FFBC is held by 86 ETFs, each at a small weight. The largest weights are in the Invesco S&P SmallCap Value with Momentum ETF (XSVM) at 0.75%, the SPDR S&P Bank ETF (KBE) at 0.73% and the Invesco S&P SmallCap Financials ETF (PSCF) at 0.69%. The SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF (KRE) holds 0.37%. Because no fund puts even 1% in this bank, owning one gives only a sliver of exposure to it.
Are First Financial Bancorp insiders selling stock?
Yes, some have sold, and none bought. Insider trading reports (Form 4 filings) reviewed for October 29, 2025, to October 29, 2026, show six sales worth about $1.25 million. The largest was a director's $527,204 sale on August 26, 2026. CEO Archie M. Brown sold $309,300 in June 2026 and $164,650 in September 2026. None were made under preset trading plans. Insiders sell for many reasons, such as taxes or diversifying, so sales alone say little about the company's prospects.