221,920 Shares in First Financial Bancorp. $FFBC Acquired by Gator Capital Management LLC

Gator Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 221,920 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $5,603,000. First Financial Bancorp. comprises about 1.4% of Gator Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Gator Capital Management LLC owned 0.23% of First Financial Bancorp. at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in FFBC. CenterBook Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. during the third quarter worth $1,504,000. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lifted its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 4.9% during the second quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 378,913 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,192,000 after purchasing an additional 17,549 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 0.4% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,340,113 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $56,777,000 after purchasing an additional 10,470 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in First Financial Bancorp. in the second quarter valued at $3,158,000. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 14.4% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 373,524 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,431,000 after purchasing an additional 47,142 shares during the period. 77.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on FFBC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on First Financial Bancorp. from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings upgraded First Financial Bancorp. from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Hovde Group raised their target price on First Financial Bancorp. from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on First Financial Bancorp. from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on First Financial Bancorp. from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $30.50.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Up 0.3%

FFBC opened at $27.03 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $28.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.16 and a beta of 0.97. First Financial Bancorp. has a fifty-two week low of $21.10 and a fifty-two week high of $31.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.02. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 20.30% and a return on equity of 10.77%. The business had revenue of $251.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $249.00 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.71 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

First Financial Bancorp. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.59%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Karen B. Woods sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.28, for a total value of $302,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 63,954 shares in the company, valued at $1,936,527.12. The trade was a 13.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Gregory A. Harris sold 1,821 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.43, for a total value of $53,592.03. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,248,744.33. The trade was a 4.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 55,141 shares of company stock worth $1,585,829. Company insiders own 1.13% of the company’s stock.

About First Financial Bancorp.

First Financial Bancorp (NASDAQ: FFBC) is a bank holding company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the parent of First Financial Bank. The company provides a comprehensive suite of commercial and consumer banking services through a network of more than 100 full-service banking centers and mortgage offices across Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky. Its core mission centers on delivering personalized relationship banking to businesses, individuals and public sector clients.

First Financial Bank’s product portfolio includes deposit solutions such as checking, savings and money market accounts, alongside a range of lending offerings that cover commercial and industrial loans, real estate and construction financing, home mortgages and home equity lines of credit.