First Financial Bancorp. $FFBC Shares Bought by GAMMA Investing LLC

GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) by 46.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,231 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 709 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in First Financial Bancorp. were worth $54,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in FFBC. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in First Financial Bancorp. during the first quarter worth about $16,615,000. Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. during the 1st quarter valued at about $5,714,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 212.2% during the 1st quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 154,312 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,855,000 after acquiring an additional 104,884 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 27.3% in the first quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 302,830 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,565,000 after acquiring an additional 64,882 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 55.0% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 97,727 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,441,000 after acquiring an additional 34,676 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FFBC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $29.00 price target on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Hovde Group began coverage on First Financial Bancorp. in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $31.00 price objective for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price 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. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, First Financial Bancorp. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.80.

First Financial Bancorp. Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FFBC opened at $26.07 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $2.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.43 and a beta of 0.96. First Financial Bancorp. has a twelve month low of $21.10 and a twelve month high of $31.18. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $25.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.57.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The bank reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $226.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $219.95 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.64 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

First Financial Bancorp. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. This is a positive change from First Financial Bancorp.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 2nd. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.00%.

Insider Transactions at First Financial Bancorp.

In other First Financial Bancorp. news, Director Thomas Murray Obrien sold 7,383 shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 46,480 shares in the company, valued at $1,233,579.20. The trade was a 13.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Archie M. Brown sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 240,891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,971,687.89. This trade represents a 4.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.13% of the company’s stock.

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.