First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) CFO Sells $134,920.00 in Stock

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) CFO James Anderson sold 4,000 shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock in a transaction on Friday, July 31st. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $3,863,333.01. This trade represents a 3.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

First Financial Bancorp. Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of FFBC stock traded up $0.04 on Friday, reaching $33.83. 945,326 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 991,508. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. First Financial Bancorp. has a one year low of $23.06 and a one year high of $36.24. The stock has a market cap of $3.55 billion, a PE ratio of 11.95 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $32.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.17.

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

First Financial Bancorp. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. This is a boost from First Financial Bancorp.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Raymond James Financial raised their price objective on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a report on Monday, June 8th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of First Financial Bancorp. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, First Financial Bancorp. has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.67.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Financial Bancorp.

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Waverly Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 0.8% in the first quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 46,429 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,294,000 after purchasing an additional 376 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,736 shares of the bank’s stock worth $383,000 after buying an additional 381 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp grew its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 26,260 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $657,000 after buying an additional 389 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 14.2% in the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 3,309 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 412 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 38.7% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,743 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 486 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.23% of the company’s stock.

About First Financial Bancorp.

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.