Archie Brown Sells 10,000 Shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Stock

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) CEO Archie Brown sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.93, for a total value of $309,300.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 243,758 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,539,434.94. The trade was a 3.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Up 0.5%

FFBC opened at $31.55 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market cap of $3.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.15 and a beta of 0.93. First Financial Bancorp. has a 52 week low of $22.93 and a 52 week high of $31.74. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $29.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.16.

First Financial Bancorp. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FFBC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stephens initiated coverage on First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Friday, March 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $33.00 price target on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised First Financial Bancorp. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Monday. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $34.00 price target on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on First Financial Bancorp. from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $33.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Financial Bancorp.

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Waverly Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 46,429 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,294,000 after purchasing an additional 376 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,736 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $383,000 after purchasing an additional 381 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 26,260 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $657,000 after purchasing an additional 389 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 14.2% in the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 3,309 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 19.4% in the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,903 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 472 shares in the last quarter. 77.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.