State Street Corp lifted its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC - Free Report) by 0.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,643,440 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 39,655 shares during the period. State Street Corp owned about 4.86% of First Financial Bancorp. worth $117,154,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Management Professionals Inc. purchased a new position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. during the third quarter valued at $28,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new position in First Financial Bancorp. in the third quarter valued at $30,000. Bogart Wealth LLC increased its holdings 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 worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 1,935 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted 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 buying an additional 627 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in First Financial Bancorp. during the 2nd quarter valued at about $77,000. 77.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other First Financial Bancorp. news, insider Richard S. Dennen sold 4,068 shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.01, for a total value of $122,080.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 70,652 shares in the company, valued at $2,120,266.52. The trade was a 5.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Scott T. Crawley sold 3,000 shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.31, for a total transaction of $87,930.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,279 shares in the company, valued at approximately $565,067.49. This represents a 13.47 % 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 valued at $335,429 over the last three months. Company insiders own 2.04% of the company's stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on FFBC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Stephens raised First Financial Bancorp. from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, December 9th.
Check Out Our Latest Analysis on First Financial Bancorp.
First Financial Bancorp. Trading Up 1.1 %
NASDAQ:FFBC traded up $0.33 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $29.27. 314,201 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 375,590. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.40. The firm has a market cap of $2.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.62 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. 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 earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.67 earnings per share (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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $214.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.67 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict 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 given 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 3.28%. First Financial Bancorp.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.38%.
First Financial Bancorp. Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
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