Claude E. Davis Sells 29,000 Shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Stock

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) insider Claude E. Davis sold 29,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.60, for a total transaction of $771,400.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 53,576 shares in the company, valued at $1,425,121.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

First Financial Bancorp. Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock opened at $26.47 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $24.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.93. First Financial Bancorp. has a 1 year low of $17.23 and a 1 year high of $28.25. The company has a market capitalization of $2.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.67 and a beta of 1.00.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The bank reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.05. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 19.67% and a return on equity of 10.69%. The company had revenue of $314.22 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $203.50 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.72 EPS. Research analysts forecast that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.53 EPS for the current year.

First Financial Bancorp. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 2nd will be given a $0.24 dividend. This is an increase from First Financial Bancorp.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.63%. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.71%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Financial Bancorp.

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in FFBC. EntryPoint Capital LLC boosted its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 63.9% in the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 1,732 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 675 shares during the period. Bogart Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 93.9% during the first quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 2,065 shares of the bank’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 6,820.5% in the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,045 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 3,001 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 23.1% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,340 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 627 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. in the second quarter valued at about $77,000. Institutional investors own 77.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FFBC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on First Financial Bancorp. from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th.

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.