First Financial Bancorp. $FFBC Holdings Raised by Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH raised its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) by 17.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 191,909 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 28,907 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH’s holdings in First Financial Bancorp. were worth $4,846,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. CWM LLC raised its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 21.3% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,670 shares of the bank’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 469 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank raised its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 27,784 shares of the bank’s stock worth $702,000 after purchasing an additional 493 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 17,380 shares of the bank’s stock worth $422,000 after purchasing an additional 646 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 46.6% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,231 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 709 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 88,227 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,140,000 after buying an additional 717 shares in the last quarter. 77.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FFBC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $28.00 target price (down from $30.00) on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a report on Monday, October 27th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of First Financial Bancorp. from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday. Zacks Research cut shares of First Financial Bancorp. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, Hovde Group assumed coverage on First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Monday, October 6th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Four 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.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $29.50.

First Financial Bancorp. Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock opened at $27.29 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.11 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. First Financial Bancorp. has a 12-month low of $21.10 and a 12-month high of $29.21. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.28.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The bank reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $234.01 million during the quarter. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 10.72% and a net margin of 20.64%. Research analysts expect that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at First Financial Bancorp.

In other news, CEO Archie M. Brown sold 11,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.80, for a total transaction of $308,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 229,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,147,678.80. This represents a 4.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 1.13% of the company’s stock.

First Financial Bancorp. Company 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.