Sapient Capital LLC Buys Shares of 8,753 First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC)

Sapient Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 8,753 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $208,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FFBC. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. raised its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 27.4% during the 1st quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 5,273 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $121,000 after acquiring an additional 1,134 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 8.7% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 20,805 shares of the bank’s stock worth $480,000 after buying an additional 1,671 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 20.2% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 22,647 shares of the bank’s stock worth $522,000 after buying an additional 3,813 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. raised its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 7.0% in the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 88,836 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,047,000 after buying an additional 5,812 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 51.8% in the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 49,950 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,151,000 after buying an additional 17,054 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.23% of the company’s stock.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock opened at $21.07 on Tuesday. First Financial Bancorp. has a 12-month low of $17.23 and a 12-month high of $24.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.00 billion, a PE ratio of 7.83 and a beta of 1.05. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $21.80 and its 200-day moving average is $21.53.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The bank reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.01. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 12.16% and a net margin of 22.94%. The business had revenue of $202.43 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $207.95 million. Equities analysts anticipate that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current year.

First Financial Bancorp. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.37%. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.20%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on FFBC. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $24.00 price objective on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Piper Sandler started coverage on First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $26.00 price objective on the stock.

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.