Intech Investment Management LLC Acquires 30,677 Shares of First Financial Bancorp. $FFBC

Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) by 70.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 74,527 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 30,677 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.08% of First Financial Bancorp. worth $1,862,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 43.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,522 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 464 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 24.4% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,201 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 432 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. bought a new stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. in the first quarter valued at about $78,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 36.5% in the first quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 3,570 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $89,000 after purchasing an additional 954 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP lifted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 94.3% in the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 4,861 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $121,000 after purchasing an additional 2,359 shares in the last quarter. 77.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Financial Bancorp.

In other First Financial Bancorp. news, CEO Archie M. Brown sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.79, for a total transaction of $309,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 240,891 shares in the company, valued at $5,971,687.89. This represents a 4.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas Murray Obrien sold 7,383 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.54, for a total value of $195,944.82. Following the sale, the director owned 46,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,233,579.20. The trade was a 13.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on FFBC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on First Financial Bancorp. from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $29.00 price target on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a report on Friday, June 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $28.00 target price (up previously from $27.00) on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Hovde Group began coverage on First Financial Bancorp. in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $31.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised First Financial Bancorp. from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $29.40.

First Financial Bancorp. Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of FFBC stock opened at $25.43 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The stock has a market cap of $2.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.17 and a beta of 1.02. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $25.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.51. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The bank reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.05. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 10.57% and a net margin of 19.41%.The business had revenue of $226.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $219.95 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.64 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 2nd. This is a boost from First Financial Bancorp.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.00%.

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.