Insider Selling: First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Insider Sells 7,600 Shares of Stock

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC - Get Free Report) insider James R. Shank sold 7,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.92, for a total transaction of $189,392.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,141 shares of the company's stock, valued at $277,633.72. The trade was a 40.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

First Financial Bancorp. Price Performance

FFBC stock remained flat at $24.75 on Friday. 1,031,445 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 363,323. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.31 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.87. First Financial Bancorp. has a fifty-two week low of $20.59 and a fifty-two week high of $31.18.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.06. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 18.67% and a return on equity of 10.52%. As a group, research analysts expect that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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First Financial Bancorp. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. First Financial Bancorp.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Financial Bancorp.

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,892,158 shares of the bank's stock valued at $292,781,000 after buying an additional 72,367 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,643,440 shares of the bank's stock worth $117,154,000 after purchasing an additional 39,655 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,271,990 shares of the bank's stock worth $57,333,000 after purchasing an additional 34,977 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 16.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,362,436 shares of the bank's stock worth $36,622,000 after purchasing an additional 189,715 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,304,922 shares of the bank's stock worth $35,076,000 after purchasing an additional 22,573 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.23% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $33.00 price objective on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $30.00 target price on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th.

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.