First Trust Advisors LP Purchases 1,732,223 Shares of First Financial Bancorp. $FFBC

First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) by 557.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,042,913 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,732,223 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 1.95% of First Financial Bancorp. worth $56,956,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 55.0% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 97,727 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,441,000 after buying an additional 34,676 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 4.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 56,205 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,404,000 after acquiring an additional 2,458 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 3.9% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 589,799 shares of the bank’s stock worth $14,733,000 after acquiring an additional 22,227 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 571.4% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 7,412 shares of the bank’s stock worth $185,000 after acquiring an additional 6,308 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 6.0% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 318,298 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,951,000 after acquiring an additional 17,911 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.23% of the company’s stock.

First Financial Bancorp. Price Performance

First Financial Bancorp. stock opened at $33.87 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market capitalization of $3.55 billion, a PE ratio of 11.97 and a beta of 0.92. First Financial Bancorp. has a 12 month low of $23.06 and a 12 month high of $36.24. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $32.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $29.95.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The bank reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.02. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 20.77% and a return on equity of 11.13%. The firm had revenue of $264.17 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $270.29 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.74 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that First Financial Bancorp. will post 3.3 EPS for the current year.

First Financial Bancorp. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. This is a boost from First Financial Bancorp.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on FFBC. Raymond James Financial raised their price target on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of First Financial Bancorp. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, First Financial Bancorp. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $33.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Archie M. Brown sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.93, for a total transaction of $309,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 243,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,539,434.94. This trade represents a 3.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Claude E. Davis sold 26,123 shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.45, for a total value of $795,445.35. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 30,410 shares in the company, valued at $925,984.50. The trade was a 46.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 41,126 shares of company stock valued at $1,255,501 over the last 90 days. 1.08% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.