Scott T. Crawley Sells 3,000 Shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Stock

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) insider Scott T. Crawley sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $565,067.49. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Down 4.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FFBC opened at $28.13 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $25.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $24.18. The company has a market cap of $2.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.13 and a beta of 0.99. 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 one year low of $19.00 and a one year high of $29.77.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $302.82 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $214.00 million. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 10.32% and a net margin of 18.55%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.67 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Financial Bancorp. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Financial Bancorp.

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,732,162 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $149,587,000 after buying an additional 60,612 shares in the last quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division raised its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 4.2% during the third quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division now owns 901,908 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $22,755,000 after purchasing an additional 36,679 shares in the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lifted its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 6.8% during the first quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 625,822 shares of the bank’s stock worth $14,031,000 after purchasing an additional 39,870 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 491,232 shares of the bank’s stock worth $12,394,000 after purchasing an additional 20,449 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 94.0% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 338,711 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,526,000 after purchasing an additional 164,105 shares during the last quarter. 77.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.