Sei Investments Co. Acquires 5,551 Shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC)

Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) by 8.7% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 69,266 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,551 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in First Financial Bancorp. were worth $1,539,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. EntryPoint Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 63.9% in the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 1,732 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 675 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 23.1% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,340 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 627 shares in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. in the 2nd quarter worth $77,000. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. during the second quarter valued at about $96,000. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new position in First Financial Bancorp. during the second quarter worth about $169,000. Institutional investors own 77.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at First Financial Bancorp.

In other news, insider Claude E. Davis sold 29,000 shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.60, for a total value of $771,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 53,576 shares in the company, valued at $1,425,121.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 2.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FFBC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on First Financial Bancorp. from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th.

First Financial Bancorp. Price Performance

FFBC opened at $24.30 on Friday. First Financial Bancorp. has a fifty-two week low of $17.23 and a fifty-two week high of $28.25. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $25.32 and a 200 day moving average of $23.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. The firm has a market cap of $2.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.80 and a beta of 0.99.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The bank reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $314.22 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $203.50 million. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 19.67% and a return on equity of 10.69%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.72 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.58 EPS for the current year.

First Financial Bancorp. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 2nd were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This is a positive change from First Financial Bancorp.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.95%. First Financial Bancorp.’s payout ratio is presently 38.71%.

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.