Empowered Funds LLC Grows Holdings in First Financial Bancorp. $FFBC

Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) by 2.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 315,101 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,352 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC owned about 0.33% of First Financial Bancorp. worth $7,871,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. First Financial Bank Trust Division raised its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division now owns 893,713 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $22,325,000 after purchasing an additional 24,690 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 749,100 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $18,713,000 after purchasing an additional 7,641 shares during the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC raised its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 700,551 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $17,500,000 after purchasing an additional 23,268 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 65.2% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 669,409 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $17,994,000 after buying an additional 264,083 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in First Financial Bancorp. in the 1st quarter valued at $16,615,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FFBC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $29.00 price objective on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Hovde Group began coverage on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $31.00 price target on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $28.00 price target (up from $27.00) on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of First Financial Bancorp. from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, First Financial Bancorp. has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $29.40.

First Financial Bancorp. Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FFBC opened at $26.15 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $2.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.46 and a beta of 1.02. First Financial Bancorp. has a 52 week low of $21.10 and a 52 week high of $31.18. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $25.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $24.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The bank reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $226.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $219.95 million. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 19.41% and a return on equity of 10.57%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.64 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Financial Bancorp. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. This is a positive change from First Financial Bancorp.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.00%.

Insider Transactions at First Financial Bancorp.

In other First Financial Bancorp. news, CEO Archie M. Brown sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.79, for a total value of $309,875.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 240,891 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,971,687.89. This represents a 4.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Thomas Murray Obrien sold 7,383 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.54, for a total transaction of $195,944.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 46,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,233,579.20. This trade represents a 13.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About First Financial Bancorp.

First Financial Bancorp. operates as the bank holding company for First Financial Bank that provides commercial banking and related services to individuals and businesses in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, and Illinois. The company offers checking, savings, and money-market accounts; and accepts various deposit products, such as interest-bearing and non-interest-bearing accounts, time deposits, and cash management services for commercial customers.