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

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of January. As of January 30th, there was short interest totaling 3,675,017 shares, a growth of 57.2% from the January 15th total of 2,337,746 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,551,215 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.4 days. Approximately 3.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Approximately 3.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,551,215 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.4 days.

Insider Transactions at First Financial Bancorp.

In other First Financial Bancorp. news, insider Richard S. Dennen sold 20,000 shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.20, for a total value of $604,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 61,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,868,051.20. The trade was a 24.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Archie M. Brown sold 11,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.80, for a total value of $308,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 229,391 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,147,678.80. This represents a 4.77% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 44,821 shares of company stock valued at $1,273,992 in the last three months. 1.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Financial Bancorp.

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 194.9% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,248,076 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $31,227,000 after acquiring an additional 824,920 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 67.2% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 907,478 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $22,705,000 after purchasing an additional 364,597 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,851,427 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $121,383,000 after purchasing an additional 354,833 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC acquired a new stake in First Financial Bancorp. in the first quarter worth $5,714,000. Finally, Gator Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in First Financial Bancorp. in the third quarter worth $5,603,000. 77.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings raised First Financial Bancorp. from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Hovde Group raised their price objective on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $28.00 price target (down previously from $30.00) on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a report on Monday, October 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $30.50.

First Financial Bancorp. Trading Up 0.4%

FFBC stock traded up $0.12 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $30.31. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 606,578 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,182,636. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $27.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. First Financial Bancorp. has a 52 week low of $21.10 and a 52 week high of $31.38. The stock has a market cap of $2.99 billion, a PE ratio of 11.39 and a beta of 1.00.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.02. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 20.30% and a return on equity of 10.77%. The company had revenue of $251.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $249.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.71 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.64 EPS for the current year.

First Financial Bancorp. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 2nd. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.59%.

First Financial Bancorp. Company Profile

First Financial Bancorp (NASDAQ: FFBC) is a bank holding company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the parent of First Financial Bank. The company provides a comprehensive suite of commercial and consumer banking services through a network of more than 100 full-service banking centers and mortgage offices across Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky. Its core mission centers on delivering personalized relationship banking to businesses, individuals and public sector clients.

First Financial Bank’s product portfolio includes deposit solutions such as checking, savings and money market accounts, alongside a range of lending offerings that cover commercial and industrial loans, real estate and construction financing, home mortgages and home equity lines of credit.