Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 42,124 Shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) by 7.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 551,059 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 42,124 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.58% of First Financial Bancorp. worth $11,264,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 1.6% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 40,619 shares of the bank’s stock worth $884,000 after acquiring an additional 646 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 179.6% during the first quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 6,598 shares of the bank’s stock worth $144,000 after acquiring an additional 4,238 shares in the last quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC grew its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 64.5% in the first quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 35,698 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $777,000 after purchasing an additional 14,000 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 40.3% in the second quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 107,447 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,196,000 after purchasing an additional 30,869 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY grew its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 80.1% in the first quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 17,883 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $389,000 after purchasing an additional 7,951 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.92% of the company’s stock.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Performance

Shares of FFBC opened at $20.92 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $19.54 and a 200-day moving average of $20.56. First Financial Bancorp. has a one year low of $17.23 and a one year high of $26.72. The company has a market cap of $1.99 billion, a PE ratio of 7.42 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 25th. The bank reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 24.93% and a return on equity of 12.99%. The company had revenue of $288.72 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $209.25 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.61 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.75 earnings per share for the current year.

First Financial Bancorp. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.40%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 30th. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.62%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FFBC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 26th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, First Financial Bancorp. presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $23.00.

First Financial Bancorp. Company Profile

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 accepts various deposit products, such as interest-bearing and noninterest-bearing accounts, time deposits, and cash management services for commercial customers.