First Financial Bancorp Completes BankFinancial All-Stock Acquisition

First Financial Bancorp ( (FFBC) ) just unveiled an announcement.

On January 1, 2026, First Financial Bancorp completed its all-stock acquisition of Chicago-based BankFinancial Corporation and merged BankFinancial’s banking subsidiary into First Financial Bank, creating a combined institution with approximately $22 billion in assets and significantly expanding First Financial’s retail consumer footprint in the Chicago market. The deal brings 18 BankFinancial financial centers and its regional and national commercial loan, lease and deposit platforms into First Financial’s network, reinforces the company’s broader Midwestern expansion strategy following recent deals in Illinois, Ohio and Michigan, and leaves both BankFinancial and First Financial customers largely unaffected operationally until a planned systems and brand conversion, expected to be completed by June 2026.

The most recent analyst rating on (FFBC) stock is a Buy with a $31.00 price target. To see the full list of analyst forecasts on First Financial Bancorp stock, see the FFBC Stock Forecast page.

Spark’s Take on FFBC Stock

According to Spark, TipRanks’ AI Analyst, FFBC is a Outperform.

First Financial Bancorp’s strong financial performance, attractive valuation, and positive corporate events drive a high overall score. The technical indicators support a bullish outlook, while the earnings call and recent acquisitions highlight strategic growth initiatives.

To see Spark’s full report on FFBC stock, click here.

More about First Financial Bancorp

First Financial Bancorp is a Cincinnati, Ohio-based bank holding company whose primary subsidiary, First Financial Bank, founded in 1863, provides a broad range of commercial, retail banking, investment commercial real estate, mortgage banking, commercial finance and wealth management services. As of September 30, 2025, it reported $18.6 billion in assets, $11.7 billion in loans, $14.4 billion in deposits and $2.6 billion in shareholders’ equity, operating 127 full-service banking centers across Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and Illinois, while its Commercial Finance unit lends nationwide into targeted industry verticals and its Wealth Management arm oversaw about $4.0 billion in assets under management.

Average Trading Volume: 588,598

Technical Sentiment Signal: Strong Buy

Current Market Cap: $2.47B

Learn more about FFBC stock on TipRanks’ Stock Analysis page.