First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Sets New 1-Year High at $25.51

Shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $25.51 and last traded at $25.43, with a volume of 111946 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $24.47.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $24.00 target price on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Up 3.1 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.62 and a beta of 1.01. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $22.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $22.27.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The bank reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59. The company had revenue of $287.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $201.79 million. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 20.74% and a return on equity of 11.22%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.76 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Financial Bancorp. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 3rd. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Financial Bancorp.

In other news, insider Richard S. Dennen sold 10,500 shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.64, for a total transaction of $248,220.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 93,152 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,202,113.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 10.1% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 33,425 shares of the bank’s stock worth $743,000 after purchasing an additional 3,067 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 9.6% during the first quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 11,394 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $255,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank raised its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 11.4% during the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 63,335 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,420,000 after acquiring an additional 6,460 shares in the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp raised its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 17.1% during the first quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 25,937 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $582,000 after acquiring an additional 3,794 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 4.6% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 75,665 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,697,000 after purchasing an additional 3,332 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.23% of the company’s stock.

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.