First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Short Interest Update

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,490,000 shares, a decline of 9.7% from the November 15th total of 1,650,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 416,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.6 days. Approximately 1.6% of the company's shares are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on FFBC shares. Stephens raised First Financial Bancorp. from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on First Financial Bancorp. from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Financial Bancorp.

In other news, insider James R. Shank sold 3,700 shares of the business'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 transaction of $97,458.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,374 shares in the company, valued at $404,951.16. The trade was a 19.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Scott T. Crawley sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.31, for a total value of $87,930.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 19,279 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $565,067.49. This represents a 13.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 11,700 shares of company stock valued at $335,429. 2.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Financial Bancorp.

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FFBC. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 94.0% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 338,711 shares of the bank's stock valued at $7,526,000 after acquiring an additional 164,105 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 162.4% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 242,187 shares of the bank's stock valued at $5,381,000 after acquiring an additional 149,896 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 111,309 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. in the third quarter valued at about $2,792,000. Finally, Denali Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 41.1% in the second quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 302,700 shares of the bank's stock valued at $6,726,000 after acquiring an additional 88,100 shares in the last quarter. 77.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First Financial Bancorp. Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ FFBC traded down $0.03 on Friday, hitting $28.94. The company's stock had a trading volume of 294,993 shares, compared to its average volume of 375,845. The firm has a market cap of $2.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.47 and a beta of 1.01. 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's 50-day simple moving average is $27.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.33. 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.01. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 10.32% and a net margin of 18.55%. The business had revenue of $302.82 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $214.00 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.67 EPS. Research analysts predict that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Financial Bancorp. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.32%. First Financial Bancorp.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.38%.

First Financial Bancorp. Company 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.