First Financial Bancorp. $FFBC Stake Cut by Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC

Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC cut its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) by 12.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 108,329 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 15,748 shares during the quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC owned 0.10% of First Financial Bancorp. worth $3,665,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 137.6% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 991 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 574 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 38.7% during the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,743 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 486 shares in the last quarter. Smithfield Trust Co purchased a new position in First Financial Bancorp. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in First Financial Bancorp. in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $57,000. Finally, C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. purchased a new stake in First Financial Bancorp. in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $81,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO James M. Anderson sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.73, for a total value of $134,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 114,537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,863,333.01. The trade was a 3.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Archie M. Brown sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.93, for a total value of $309,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 243,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,539,434.94. This trade represents a 3.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 32,788 shares of company stock worth $1,063,656. Insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on FFBC. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen lowered First Financial Bancorp. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Raymond James Financial boosted their target price on First Financial Bancorp. from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, First Financial Bancorp. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $33.67.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Down 0.6%

FFBC stock opened at $32.63 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. First Financial Bancorp. has a 1 year low of $23.06 and a 1 year high of $36.24. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.03. The firm has a market cap of $3.43 billion, a PE ratio of 11.53 and a beta of 0.92.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The bank reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.02. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 20.77% and a return on equity of 11.13%. The firm had revenue of $264.17 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $270.29 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.74 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that First Financial Bancorp. will post 3.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Financial Bancorp. Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a boost from First Financial Bancorp.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.75%.

First Financial Bancorp. Company Profile

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.