First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Stock Price Down 5% - Should You Sell?

Shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC - Get Free Report) traded down 5% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $22.63 and last traded at $22.80. 60,036 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 439,534 shares. The stock had previously closed at $24.00.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on FFBC. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Stephens reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $33.00 target price on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on First Financial Bancorp. from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday.

First Financial Bancorp. Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $24.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.57. The stock has a market cap of $2.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.65 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The bank reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 10.52% and a net margin of 18.67%. The firm had revenue of $201.59 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $214.80 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.59 earnings per share. First Financial Bancorp.'s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

First Financial Bancorp. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.14%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. First Financial Bancorp.'s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Financial Bancorp.

In other First Financial Bancorp. news, insider James R. Shank sold 7,600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.92, for a total value of $189,392.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 11,141 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $277,633.72. This represents a 40.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of First Financial Bancorp.

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of FFBC. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 140.1% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 190,742 shares of the bank's stock valued at $4,812,000 after purchasing an additional 111,309 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 1.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 67,175 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,707,000 after purchasing an additional 975 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 4.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 491,232 shares of the bank's stock valued at $12,394,000 after purchasing an additional 20,449 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 21.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 295,967 shares of the bank's stock valued at $8,006,000 after purchasing an additional 52,739 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC acquired a new stake in First Financial Bancorp. in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.23% 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.