Brean Capital has launched coverage of First Financial Bancorp (NASDAQ:FFBC) with a Neutral rating and a price target of $33.00. The stock was trading at $30.90, roughly 0.99% below its 52-week high of $31.36, with InvestingPro data also flagging the bank as potentially undervalued on a Fair Value basis.
In his initiation report, Brean Capital analyst John Rodis set fiscal year 2026 earnings per share at $3.10 and fiscal year 2027 EPS at $3.30. Those estimates sit slightly below current consensus figures, which are approximately $3.13 for FY26 and $3.40 for FY27.
InvestingPro data cited in the initiation notes a current price-to-earnings ratio of 11.61 for First Financial Bancorp, a metric the service characterizes as elevated relative to the bank’s near-term earnings growth prospects.
Brean Capital’s $33.00 price objective is anchored to two valuation assumptions: a multiple of 10.7 times the firm’s FY26 EPS estimate and 210% of the bank’s current tangible book value. The firm also expresses that this target equates to roughly 185% of projected year-end 2026 tangible book value.
Those valuation metrics are positioned against peer medians for similarly sized banks. Among banks with $20 billion to $100 billion in assets, Brean Capital notes median multiples near 11.6 times earnings and about 172% of tangible book value.
The coverage launch follows Brean Capital’s acquisition of Janney Montgomery Scott’s Banking and Insurance capital markets teams on January 30, 2023. Rodis projects a fiscal 2026 return on assets of 1.42% for First Financial, above a peer group median of approximately 1.21%. The bank’s reported return on assets for the last twelve months stands at 1.29%.
First Financial also released fourth-quarter 2025 results that the initiation report characterizes as record-setting. The company posted adjusted earnings per share of $0.80 for the quarter, ahead of analyst forecasts of $0.56. Revenue for the quarter reached $251.3 million, modestly exceeding expectations. Despite those results, the stock experienced a small decline in aftermarket trading.
Context and implications
Brean Capital’s Neutral stance and $33 target reflect an explicit valuation framework that blends near-term earnings assumptions with tangible book value multiples. The initiation emphasizes measured outperformance on return on assets versus peers while flagging a P/E that InvestingPro views as relatively high given expected near-term earnings growth.
Data limitations - The initiation report lists Brean Capital’s estimates and the InvestingPro metrics cited; those figures form the basis for the firm’s price target and relative comparisons.