Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC Makes New Investment in First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC)

Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 79,795 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $2,013,000. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC owned approximately 0.08% of First Financial Bancorp. as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Arizona State Retirement System grew its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 1.8% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 26,617 shares of the bank's stock worth $591,000 after buying an additional 475 shares during the period. Souders Financial Advisors increased its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Souders Financial Advisors now owns 72,038 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,818,000 after purchasing an additional 617 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 5.2% in the third quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,525 shares of the bank's stock worth $316,000 after acquiring an additional 618 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 627 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC boosted its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 63.9% during the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 1,732 shares of the bank's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 675 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.23% of the company's stock.

First Financial Bancorp. Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock traded up $0.50 on Friday, reaching $29.86. 361,787 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 453,279. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $26.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $24.70. First Financial Bancorp. has a fifty-two week low of $19.92 and a fifty-two week high of $30.11. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $2.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.87 and a beta of 0.99.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.01. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 18.55% and a return on equity of 10.32%. The firm had revenue of $302.82 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $214.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.67 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.53 EPS for the current year.

First Financial Bancorp. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. First Financial Bancorp.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.38%.

Insider Transactions at First Financial Bancorp.

In other news, insider James R. Shank sold 3,700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $404,951.16. This represents a 19.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Richard S. Dennen sold 932 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total transaction of $27,960.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 74,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,241,600. The trade was a 1.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 36,632 shares of company stock valued at $984,748 over the last three months. Company insiders own 2.04% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on FFBC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on First Financial Bancorp. from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th.

First Financial Bancorp. Profile

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.