VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Buys New Holdings in First Financial Bancorp. $FFBC

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new position in First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 61,629 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $2,085,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FFBC. Waverly Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 46,429 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,294,000 after purchasing an additional 376 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 2.9% in the first quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,736 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $383,000 after buying an additional 381 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 26,260 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $657,000 after buying an additional 389 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 14.2% in the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 3,309 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 412 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its stake 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 valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 486 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at First Financial Bancorp.

In other First Financial Bancorp. news, CFO James M. Anderson sold 4,000 shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.73, for a total transaction of $134,920.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 114,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,863,333.01. The trade was a 3.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas O’Brien sold 16,088 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.77, for a total value of $527,203.76. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 30,392 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $995,945.84. This represents a 34.61% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 27,788 shares of company stock valued at $919,006 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FFBC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Truist Financial upped their price objective on First Financial Bancorp. from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Raymond James Financial raised their target price on First Financial Bancorp. from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report 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 reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a report on Friday, September 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, First Financial Bancorp. has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $33.67.

First Financial Bancorp. Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FFBC opened at $32.50 on Friday. First Financial Bancorp. has a 12 month low of $23.06 and a 12 month high of $36.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.48 and a beta of 0.91. 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $33.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.17.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last released its quarterly earnings data 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%. First Financial Bancorp.’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.74 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that First Financial Bancorp. will post 3.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Financial Bancorp. Increases Dividend

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

First Financial Bancorp. Profile

First Financial Bancorp. is a bank holding company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. Through its principal subsidiary, First Financial Bank, the company provides banking and financial services to businesses, individuals, and community organizations.

First Financial Bank offers commercial and retail banking products, including business loans, commercial real estate financing, consumer lending, residential mortgage services, deposit accounts, treasury management, and online and mobile banking.