Bridgeway Capital Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in First Financial Bancorp. $FFBC

Bridgeway Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 759,950 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 20,284 shares during the period. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC’s holdings in First Financial Bancorp. were worth $19,014,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 30.3% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 325,349 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,140,000 after buying an additional 75,629 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 105,489 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,640,000 after buying an additional 3,196 shares in the last quarter. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in First Financial Bancorp. in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $542,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 11,858 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $297,000 after buying an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 90,473 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,264,000 after buying an additional 2,241 shares in the last quarter. 77.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Financial Bancorp.

In other First Financial Bancorp. news, CFO James M. Anderson sold 4,263 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total value of $127,890.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 118,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,556,110. This trade represents a 3.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Archie M. Brown sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.93, for a total transaction of $309,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 243,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,539,434.94. The trade was a 3.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 41,126 shares of company stock valued at $1,255,501 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:FFBC opened at $31.46 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $30.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $28.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84. First Financial Bancorp. has a one year low of $22.93 and a one year high of $32.66. The company has a market cap of $3.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.12 and a beta of 0.93.

First Financial Bancorp. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on FFBC. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of First Financial Bancorp. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $34.00 price target on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $33.00.

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.