First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) CAO Karen Woods Sells 10,000 Shares

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) CAO Karen Woods sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.28, for a total value of $302,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 63,954 shares in the company, valued at $1,936,527.12. This trade represents a 13.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

First Financial Bancorp. Trading Up 0.5%

NASDAQ:FFBC opened at $30.45 on Wednesday. First Financial Bancorp. has a 12 month low of $21.10 and a 12 month high of $31.38. The stock has a market cap of $3.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.45 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $27.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $251.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $249.00 million. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 10.77% and a net margin of 20.30%.During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.71 EPS. Equities analysts predict that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.64 EPS for the current year.

First Financial Bancorp. Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 2nd. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FFBC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of 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 price objective on First Financial Bancorp. from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $28.00 price objective (down previously from $30.00) on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on First Financial Bancorp. from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on First Financial Bancorp. from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $30.50.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Financial Bancorp.

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 194.9% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,248,076 shares of the bank’s stock worth $31,227,000 after acquiring an additional 824,920 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 67.2% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 907,478 shares of the bank’s stock worth $22,705,000 after purchasing an additional 364,597 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,851,427 shares of the bank’s stock worth $121,383,000 after purchasing an additional 354,833 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new stake in First Financial Bancorp. during the 1st quarter valued at $5,714,000. Finally, Gator Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. during the 3rd quarter valued at $5,603,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.23% of the company’s stock.

First Financial Bancorp. Company Profile

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.