First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Director Thomas Murray Obrien Sells 16,088 Shares

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Director Thomas Murray Obrien sold 16,088 shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.77, for a total transaction of $527,203.76. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 30,392 shares in the company, valued at approximately $995,945.84. This trade represents a 34.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Up 0.3%

FFBC stock opened at $32.82 on Friday. First Financial Bancorp. has a 52 week low of $23.06 and a 52 week high of $36.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.60 and a beta of 0.92.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The bank reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $264.17 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $270.29 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.74 EPS. First Financial Bancorp.’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that First Financial Bancorp. will post 3.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Financial Bancorp. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. This is a boost from First Financial Bancorp.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on FFBC shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Raymond James Financial raised their price objective on First Financial Bancorp. from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of First Financial Bancorp. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $33.67.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,929,185 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $273,448,000 after purchasing an additional 215,357 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 6.0% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,617,522 shares of the bank’s stock worth $184,493,000 after buying an additional 374,373 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,851,427 shares of the bank’s stock worth $121,383,000 after buying an additional 354,833 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 3,187.9% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 4,107,063 shares of the bank’s stock worth $138,942,000 after buying an additional 3,982,149 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,374,365 shares of the bank’s stock worth $59,415,000 after buying an additional 22,389 shares during the last quarter. 77.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.