CenterBook Partners LP Buys New Position in First Financial Bancorp. $FFBC

CenterBook Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 59,564 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $1,504,000. CenterBook Partners LP owned about 0.06% of First Financial Bancorp. at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. during the 1st quarter worth $5,714,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC raised its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 110.5% during the second quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 324,852 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,881,000 after purchasing an additional 170,540 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 22.7% during the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 786,319 shares of the bank’s stock worth $19,076,000 after purchasing an additional 145,575 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. in the 2nd quarter worth about $3,158,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 97.5% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 208,565 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,060,000 after purchasing an additional 102,974 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at First Financial Bancorp.

In other First Financial Bancorp. news, CEO Archie M. Brown sold 11,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.80, for a total value of $308,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 229,391 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,147,678.80. This represents a 4.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Gregory A. Harris sold 1,821 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.43, for a total transaction of $53,592.03. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 42,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,248,744.33. This represents a 4.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 54,821 shares of company stock valued at $1,576,792 in the last 90 days. 1.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:FFBC opened at $29.96 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $27.43 and its 200 day moving average is $25.89. The company has a market cap of $2.95 billion, a PE ratio of 11.26 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89. First Financial Bancorp. has a 1 year low of $21.10 and a 1 year high of $31.38.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $251.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $249.00 million. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 10.77% and a net margin of 20.30%.During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.71 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate 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, March 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. First Financial Bancorp.’s payout ratio is 37.59%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on FFBC. Weiss Ratings upgraded First Financial Bancorp. from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $28.00 price target (down from $30.00) on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Hovde Group boosted their price target on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, First Financial Bancorp. has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $30.50.

First Financial Bancorp. Profile

First Financial Bancorp (NASDAQ: FFBC) is a bank holding company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the parent of First Financial Bank. The company provides a comprehensive suite of commercial and consumer banking services through a network of more than 100 full-service banking centers and mortgage offices across Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky. Its core mission centers on delivering personalized relationship banking to businesses, individuals and public sector clients.

First Financial Bank’s product portfolio includes deposit solutions such as checking, savings and money market accounts, alongside a range of lending offerings that cover commercial and industrial loans, real estate and construction financing, home mortgages and home equity lines of credit.