First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,640,000 shares, a growth of 10.1% from the November 30th total of 1,490,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 431,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.8 days. Approximately 1.8% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on FFBC. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on First Financial Bancorp. from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Stephens upgraded First Financial Bancorp. from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th.

First Financial Bancorp. Price Performance

Shares of FFBC opened at $26.88 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $28.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.87. The firm has a market cap of $2.57 billion, a PE ratio of 11.59 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. First Financial Bancorp. has a 1-year low of $20.59 and a 1-year high of $31.18.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $302.82 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $214.00 million. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 10.32% and a net margin of 18.55%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.67 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.53 EPS for the current year.

First Financial Bancorp. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. First Financial Bancorp.’s payout ratio is 41.38%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Richard S. Dennen sold 4,068 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.01, for a total transaction of $122,080.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 70,652 shares in the company, valued at $2,120,266.52. This trade represents a 5.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider James R. Shank sold 3,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.34, for a total transaction of $97,458.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,374 shares in the company, valued at approximately $404,951.16. The trade was a 19.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 11,700 shares of company stock worth $335,429. Insiders own 2.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of First Financial Bancorp.

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 39.1% during the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 25,310 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $562,000 after acquiring an additional 7,112 shares during the period. Picton Mahoney Asset Management bought a new stake in First Financial Bancorp. during the second quarter valued at about $169,000. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in First Financial Bancorp. during the second quarter valued at about $96,000. Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in First Financial Bancorp. in the second quarter worth about $1,050,000. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 1.8% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 26,617 shares of the bank’s stock worth $591,000 after buying an additional 475 shares during the period. 77.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About First Financial Bancorp.

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.