First Financial Bancorp. $FFBC Shares Sold by Fisher Asset Management LLC

Fisher Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) by 6.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 722,400 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 48,199 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC owned about 0.73% of First Financial Bancorp. worth $18,241,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. First Horizon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Bogart Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in First Financial Bancorp. during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. MAI Capital Management lifted its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 530.6% during the third quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 1,545 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 2,741.3% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,790 shares of the bank’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 1,727 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Consulate Inc. acquired a new position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. in the third quarter worth about $47,000. 77.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on FFBC. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of First Financial Bancorp. from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Hovde Group increased their target price on First Financial Bancorp. from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on First Financial Bancorp. from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on First Financial Bancorp. from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $30.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Financial Bancorp.

In other First Financial Bancorp. news, insider Richard S. Dennen sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.20, for a total transaction of $604,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 61,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,868,051.20. This represents a 24.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Archie M. Brown sold 11,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.80, for a total value of $308,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 229,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,147,678.80. This trade represents a 4.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 55,141 shares of company stock valued at $1,585,829 over the last three months. 1.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

First Financial Bancorp. Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FFBC opened at $28.04 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $2.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.54 and a beta of 0.97. First Financial Bancorp. has a 1 year low of $21.10 and a 1 year high of $31.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $26.20.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last issued its earnings results 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. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 10.77% and a net margin of 20.30%.The company had revenue of $251.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $249.00 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.71 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Financial Bancorp. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 2nd. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.59%.

About First Financial Bancorp.

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.