James R. Shank Sells 7,600 Shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Stock

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) insider James R. Shank sold 7,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.92, for a total value of $189,392.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $277,633.72. This represents a 40.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

First Financial Bancorp. Price Performance

FFBC stock opened at $24.75 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.31 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. First Financial Bancorp. has a 52-week low of $20.59 and a 52-week high of $31.18. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.88.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.06. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 10.52% and a net margin of 18.67%. Research analysts expect that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Financial Bancorp. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.88%. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Financial Bancorp.

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Royce & Associates LP lifted its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 62.9% during the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 80,853 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,040,000 after buying an additional 31,225 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 14.9% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 28,862 shares of the bank’s stock worth $728,000 after buying an additional 3,747 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 73.1% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 153,281 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,867,000 after buying an additional 64,745 shares in the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC bought a new position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,013,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 41.7% during the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 21,470 shares of the bank’s stock worth $542,000 after buying an additional 6,320 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on FFBC. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $33.00 target price on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $30.00 target price on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on First Financial Bancorp. from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th.

First Financial Bancorp. Company Profile

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.