James Anderson Sells 4,263 Shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Stock

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) CFO James Anderson sold 4,263 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total value of $127,890.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 118,537 shares in the company, valued at $3,556,110. The trade was a 3.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Up 0.4%

FFBC opened at $30.41 on Friday. First Financial Bancorp. has a 12 month low of $22.93 and a 12 month high of $31.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The stock has a market cap of $3.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.75 and a beta of 0.94. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $28.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $26.89.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.02. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 11.09% and a net margin of 20.92%.The firm had revenue of $251.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $249.00 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.71 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that First Financial Bancorp. will post 3.26 earnings per share for the current year.

First Financial Bancorp. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.34%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Financial Bancorp.

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FFBC. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 55.0% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 97,727 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,441,000 after purchasing an additional 34,676 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 56,205 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,404,000 after purchasing an additional 2,458 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 589,799 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $14,733,000 after purchasing an additional 22,227 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 571.4% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 7,412 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $185,000 after purchasing an additional 6,308 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 318,298 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,951,000 after purchasing an additional 17,911 shares during the period. 77.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Truist Financial raised their target price on First Financial Bancorp. from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price 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. Stephens assumed coverage on First Financial Bancorp. in a research report on Friday, March 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $33.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on First Financial Bancorp. from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Hovde Group raised their target price on First Financial Bancorp. from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, First Financial Bancorp. presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.00.

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.