First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Short Interest Update

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totaling 2,060,000 shares, a growth of 25.6% from the August 15th total of 1,640,000 shares. Currently, 2.2% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 414,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.0 days. Based on an average daily volume of 414,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.0 days. Currently, 2.2% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FFBC has been the subject of several research reports. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $29.00 target price on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Hovde Group assumed coverage on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $31.00 target price on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $28.00 target price (up from $27.00) on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of First Financial Bancorp. from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report 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 data from MarketBeat, First Financial Bancorp. has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Trading of First Financial Bancorp.

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 58,585 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,463,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $273,000 after buying an additional 424 shares during the period. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 24.4% in 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 grew its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 43.9% in 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. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 9,041 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $226,000 after buying an additional 570 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.23% of the company’s stock.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of FFBC opened at $25.55 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $2.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.22 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. First Financial Bancorp. has a 12 month low of $21.10 and a 12 month high of $31.18. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $25.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $24.52.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The bank reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.05. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 19.41% and a return on equity of 10.57%. The company had revenue of $226.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $219.95 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.64 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Financial Bancorp. Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were issued a $0.25 dividend. This is an increase from First Financial Bancorp.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 2nd. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.00%.

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.