Waverly Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in First Financial Bancorp. $FFBC

Waverly Advisors LLC grew its position in First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) by 43.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 66,768 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,339 shares during the period. Waverly Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.06% of First Financial Bancorp. worth $2,259,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,309,205 shares of the bank’s stock worth $32,756,000 after purchasing an additional 42,116 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 38.1% in the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 124,914 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,483,000 after purchasing an additional 34,441 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 29.7% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,236,781 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $34,481,000 after purchasing an additional 283,306 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC grew its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 114.5% during the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 84,595 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,117,000 after purchasing an additional 45,149 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 44.6% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 137,364 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,830,000 after purchasing an additional 42,368 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.23% of the company’s stock.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Down 0.1%

FFBC opened at $32.50 on Friday. First Financial Bancorp. has a fifty-two week low of $23.06 and a fifty-two week high of $36.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The company has a fifty day moving average of $33.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.48 and a beta of 0.91.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. 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 20.77% and a return on equity of 11.13%. The business had revenue of $264.17 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $270.29 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.74 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that First Financial Bancorp. will post 3.22 earnings per share for the current year.

First Financial Bancorp. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 1st. This is a positive change from First Financial Bancorp.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. First Financial Bancorp.’s payout ratio is currently 36.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on FFBC shares. Wall Street Zen cut First Financial Bancorp. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Truist Financial raised their target price on First Financial Bancorp. from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research report on Friday, September 4th. Finally, Raymond James Financial boosted their price target on First Financial Bancorp. from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other First Financial Bancorp. news, insider Scott T. Crawley sold 2,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.16, for a total transaction of $92,232.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 22,711 shares in the company, valued at approximately $775,807.76. This represents a 10.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO James Anderson sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.73, for a total value of $134,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 114,537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,863,333.01. The trade was a 3.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 27,788 shares of company stock worth $919,006. Company insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

About First Financial Bancorp.

First Financial Bancorp. is a bank holding company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. Through its principal subsidiary, First Financial Bank, the company provides banking and financial services to businesses, individuals, and community organizations.

First Financial Bank offers commercial and retail banking products, including business loans, commercial real estate financing, consumer lending, residential mortgage services, deposit accounts, treasury management, and online and mobile banking.