First Financial Bancorp. $FFBC Stake Cut by Wellington Management Group LLP

Wellington Management Group LLP cut its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) by 50.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 598,943 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 613,225 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP’s holdings in First Financial Bancorp. were worth $20,262,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 557.5% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,042,913 shares of the bank’s stock worth $56,956,000 after purchasing an additional 1,732,223 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. purchased a new position in First Financial Bancorp. during the first quarter valued at approximately $34,058,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in First Financial Bancorp. in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $40,815,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 194.9% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,248,076 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $31,227,000 after buying an additional 824,920 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,617,522 shares of the bank’s stock worth $184,493,000 after buying an additional 374,373 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Financial Bancorp.

In other First Financial Bancorp. news, insider Scott T. Crawley sold 2,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.16, for a total transaction of $92,232.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 22,711 shares in the company, valued at $775,807.76. This trade represents a 10.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Archie Brown sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.93, for a total value of $164,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 238,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,862,300.94. This represents a 2.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 27,788 shares of company stock valued at $919,006. Corporate insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

First Financial Bancorp. Price Performance

NASDAQ FFBC opened at $32.98 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.46 billion, a PE ratio of 11.65 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $33.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.10. First Financial Bancorp. has a 12-month low of $23.06 and a 12-month high of $36.24.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The bank reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $264.17 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $270.29 million. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 20.77% and a return on equity of 11.13%. First Financial Bancorp.’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.74 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that First Financial Bancorp. will post 3.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Financial Bancorp. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 1st. This is a positive change from First Financial Bancorp.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Wall Street Zen cut First Financial Bancorp. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on First Financial Bancorp. from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.67.

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.