First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) CEO Archie Brown Sells 5,000 Shares of Stock

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) CEO Archie Brown sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.93, for a total value of $164,650.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 238,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,862,300.94. This represents a 2.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

First Financial Bancorp. Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FFBC opened at $32.83 on Friday. First Financial Bancorp. has a 1-year low of $23.06 and a 1-year high of $36.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $33.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.45 billion, a PE ratio of 11.60 and a beta of 0.91.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The bank reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $264.17 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $270.29 million. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 20.77% and a return on equity of 11.13%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.74 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that First Financial Bancorp. will post 3.22 EPS for the current year.

First Financial Bancorp. Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. This is an increase from First Financial Bancorp.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.75%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Financial Bancorp.

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 137.6% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 991 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 574 shares in the last quarter. Nykredit A S bought a new position in First Financial Bancorp. during the second quarter valued at about $55,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in First Financial Bancorp. during the second quarter worth about $57,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 38.7% in the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,743 shares of the bank’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 486 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smithfield Trust Co bought a new stake in First Financial Bancorp. in the fourth quarter worth about $50,000. 77.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on FFBC shares. Truist Financial increased their price objective on First Financial Bancorp. from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Raymond James Financial lifted their target price on First Financial Bancorp. from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Wall Street Zen cut First Financial Bancorp. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a report on Monday, June 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, First Financial Bancorp. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.67.

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.