First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Insider Scott Crawley Sells 2,700 Shares

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) insider Scott Crawley sold 2,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.16, for a total transaction of $92,232.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 22,711 shares in the company, valued at $775,807.76. This represents a 10.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

First Financial Bancorp. Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FFBC opened at $34.14 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $32.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $30.29. First Financial Bancorp. has a 52 week low of $23.06 and a 52 week high of $36.24. The stock has a market cap of $3.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.06 and a beta of 0.92.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The bank reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $264.17 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $270.29 million. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 20.77% and a return on equity of 11.13%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.74 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. This is a boost from First Financial Bancorp.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. First Financial Bancorp.’s payout ratio is presently 35.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada upped 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. Raymond James Financial lifted their target price on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Wall Street Zen downgraded First Financial Bancorp. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Truist Financial increased their price target on First Financial Bancorp. from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated 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 issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $33.67.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Financial Bancorp.

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FFBC. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 55.0% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 97,727 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,441,000 after purchasing an additional 34,676 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 56,205 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,404,000 after purchasing an additional 2,458 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 589,799 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $14,733,000 after buying an additional 22,227 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 571.4% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 7,412 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $185,000 after buying an additional 6,308 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 318,298 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,951,000 after buying an additional 17,911 shares during the last quarter. 77.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.