Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Sells 93,475 Shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lowered its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) by 1.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,441,755 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 93,475 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 6.77% of First Financial Bancorp. worth $131,672,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in FFBC. Creative Planning lifted its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 0.7% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 78,028 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,595,000 after acquiring an additional 580 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 40,619 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $884,000 after purchasing an additional 646 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 51,722 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,003,000 after purchasing an additional 658 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 9.2% in the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 7,902 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $172,000 after purchasing an additional 666 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 27,480 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $598,000 after purchasing an additional 709 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.92% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on FFBC shares. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, First Financial Bancorp. presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $23.00.

First Financial Bancorp. Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of FFBC stock opened at $20.75 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $19.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $20.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The company has a market capitalization of $1.97 billion, a PE ratio of 7.36 and a beta of 1.08. First Financial Bancorp. has a 12-month low of $17.23 and a 12-month high of $26.72.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 25th. The bank reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.67. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 24.93% and a return on equity of 12.99%. The firm had revenue of $288.72 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $209.25 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.61 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.75 earnings per share for the current year.

First Financial Bancorp. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 30th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.43%. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.62%.

First Financial Bancorp. 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 accepts various deposit products, such as interest-bearing and noninterest-bearing accounts, time deposits, and cash management services for commercial customers.