Martingale Asset Management L P Buys Shares of 36,884 First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC)

Martingale Asset Management L P acquired a new position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 36,884 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $931,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in FFBC. Financial Management Professionals Inc. acquired a new stake in First Financial Bancorp. in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Bogart Wealth LLC grew its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 2,976.9% in the 3rd quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 2,000 shares of the bank's stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 1,935 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 23.1% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,340 shares of the bank's stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 627 shares during the period. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in First Financial Bancorp. in the 2nd quarter valued at $77,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in First Financial Bancorp. in the 2nd quarter valued at $96,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.23% of the company's stock.

First Financial Bancorp. Price Performance

FFBC stock traded down $0.47 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $28.84. The stock had a trading volume of 291,939 shares, compared to its average volume of 374,994. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $26.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company has a market cap of $2.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.43 and a beta of 1.01. First Financial Bancorp. has a 52-week low of $20.59 and a 52-week high of $31.18.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $302.82 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $214.00 million. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 10.32% and a net margin of 18.55%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.67 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Financial Bancorp. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.33%. First Financial Bancorp.'s payout ratio is currently 41.38%.

Insider Transactions at First Financial Bancorp.

In other news, insider Richard S. Dennen sold 4,068 shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.01, for a total transaction of $122,080.68. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 70,652 shares in the company, valued at $2,120,266.52. The trade was a 5.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider James R. Shank sold 3,700 shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.34, for a total value of $97,458.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,374 shares in the company, valued at approximately $404,951.16. This represents a 19.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,700 shares of company stock worth $335,429 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.04% of the company's stock.

About First Financial Bancorp.

First Financial Bancorp. operates as the bank holding company for First Financial Bank that provides commercial banking and related services to individuals and businesses in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, and Illinois. The company offers checking, savings, and money-market accounts; and accepts various deposit products, such as interest-bearing and non-interest-bearing accounts, time deposits, and cash management services for commercial customers.