HighTower Advisors LLC Has $1.46 Million Stake in First Financial Bancorp. $FFBC

HighTower Advisors LLC increased its position in First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) by 0.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 58,585 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 415 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC owned about 0.06% of First Financial Bancorp. worth $1,463,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 10,923 shares of the bank’s stock worth $273,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares during the period. CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 24.4% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,201 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 432 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 43.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,522 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 464 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 36.5% during the 1st quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 3,570 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $89,000 after buying an additional 954 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP boosted its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 68.9% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,502 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 1,021 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FFBC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. They set a “hold” rating and a $27.00 target price for the company. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $29.00 target price on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Hovde Group initiated coverage on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $31.00 target price for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of First Financial Bancorp. from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $29.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Archie M. Brown sold 12,500 shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.79, for a total value of $309,875.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 240,891 shares in the company, valued at $5,971,687.89. This trade represents a 4.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Thomas Murray Obrien sold 7,383 shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.54, for a total transaction of $195,944.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 46,480 shares in the company, valued at $1,233,579.20. This trade represents a 13.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 20,670 shares of company stock worth $524,826 in the last 90 days. 1.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Down 0.2%

First Financial Bancorp. stock opened at $26.50 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.60 and a beta of 0.98. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. First Financial Bancorp. has a 1-year low of $21.10 and a 1-year high of $31.18.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The bank reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $226.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $219.95 million. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 19.41% and a return on equity of 10.57%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.64 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Financial Bancorp. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. This is an increase from First Financial Bancorp.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. First Financial Bancorp.’s payout ratio is 38.40%.

First Financial Bancorp. 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.