State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Acquires 6,204 Shares of First Financial Bancorp. $FFBC

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) by 8.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 78,119 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,204 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D owned about 0.08% of First Financial Bancorp. worth $1,895,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of FFBC. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 464 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 432 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. bought a new stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. during the 1st quarter valued at about $78,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 954 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP boosted its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 94.3% during the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 4,861 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $121,000 after acquiring an additional 2,359 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on FFBC shares. Truist Financial lifted their price target on First Financial Bancorp. from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised First Financial Bancorp. from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, July 20th. Hovde Group began coverage on First Financial Bancorp. in a report on Monday, October 6th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $28.00 price objective (down from $30.00) on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Zacks Research cut First Financial Bancorp. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, First Financial Bancorp. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $29.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Archie M. Brown sold 12,500 shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.79, for a total value of $309,875.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 240,891 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,971,687.89. This trade represents a 4.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 sale, the director owned 46,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,233,579.20. This represents a 13.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

First Financial Bancorp. Price Performance

Shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock opened at $23.41 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $25.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.67 and a beta of 0.96. First Financial Bancorp. has a one year low of $21.10 and a one year high of $31.18.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 15th. The bank reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of $179.99 million for the quarter. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 10.72% and a net margin of 20.64%. Analysts forecast that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.64 EPS for the current year.

First Financial Bancorp. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 1st will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 1st. First Financial Bancorp.’s payout ratio is 37.04%.

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.