Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Sells 64,253 Shares of First Financial Bancorp. $FFBC

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lessened its position in First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) by 1.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,213,106 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 64,253 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 0.06% of First Financial Bancorp. worth $156,882,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new stake in First Financial Bancorp. during the first quarter worth about $5,714,000. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 47.7% during the 3rd quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 559,488 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $14,127,000 after purchasing an additional 180,575 shares during the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC increased its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 110.5% during the 2nd quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 324,852 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,881,000 after purchasing an additional 170,540 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 22.7% during the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 786,319 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $19,076,000 after buying an additional 145,575 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. during the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,158,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.23% of the company’s stock.

First Financial Bancorp. Price Performance

FFBC opened at $27.12 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89. First Financial Bancorp. has a 1 year low of $21.10 and a 1 year high of $31.38. The firm has a market cap of $2.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.20 and a beta of 0.97.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.02. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 10.77% and a net margin of 20.30%.The business had revenue of $251.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $249.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.71 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

First Financial Bancorp. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 2nd. First Financial Bancorp.’s payout ratio is presently 37.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Hovde Group upped their target price on First Financial Bancorp. from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of First Financial Bancorp. from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. 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, First Financial Bancorp. has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $30.50.

Insider Activity

In other First Financial Bancorp. news, CAO Karen B. Woods sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.28, for a total value of $302,800.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 63,954 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,936,527.12. This trade represents a 13.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Gregory A. Harris sold 1,821 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.43, for a total transaction of $53,592.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 42,431 shares in the company, valued at $1,248,744.33. The trade was a 4.12% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 55,141 shares of company stock valued at $1,585,829. 1.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About First Financial Bancorp.

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.