ProShare Advisors LLC Has $465,000 Holdings in First Financial Bancorp. $FFBC

ProShare Advisors LLC lessened its stake in First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) by 48.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 18,579 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 17,385 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in First Financial Bancorp. were worth $465,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 14.2% in the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 3,309 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 412 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 19.4% in the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,903 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 472 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 1.7% in the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 28,308 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $715,000 after buying an additional 481 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 21.7% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,036 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 541 shares during the period. Finally, First Horizon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 56.0% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 1,526 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 548 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Hovde Group upped their price target on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $34.00 price target on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Stephens assumed coverage on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a report on Friday, March 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $33.00 target price for the company. Four 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 stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Financial Bancorp.

In other news, insider Claude E. Davis sold 26,123 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $925,984.50. This represents a 46.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO James M. Anderson sold 4,263 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total transaction of $127,890.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 31,126 shares of company stock worth $946,201 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Performance

NASDAQ FFBC opened at $30.76 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $29.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $27.75. First Financial Bancorp. has a 1 year low of $22.93 and a 1 year high of $31.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.87 and a beta of 0.94.

First Financial Bancorp. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio is 35.34%.

First Financial Bancorp. 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.