Arizona State Retirement System Has $632,000 Position in First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC)

Arizona State Retirement System cut its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,591 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 502 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in First Financial Bancorp. were worth $632,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in FFBC. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $21,748,000. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 13,933,810 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $303,339,000 after purchasing an additional 423,327 shares during the period. Fidelity National Financial Inc. bought a new stake in First Financial Bancorp. in the 1st quarter valued at $4,354,000. State Street Corp boosted its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,138,615 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $90,098,000 after purchasing an additional 178,038 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,495,128 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $241,913,000 after purchasing an additional 147,057 shares during the period. 77.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FFBC opened at $21.06 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $21.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.53. The company has a market cap of $2.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.83 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. First Financial Bancorp. has a fifty-two week low of $17.23 and a fifty-two week high of $24.99.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last released its 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. The firm had revenue of $202.43 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $207.95 million. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 12.16% and a net margin of 22.94%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Financial Bancorp. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were given a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.37%. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.20%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $24.00 price target on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $26.00 price target for the company.

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 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.