Renaissance Technologies LLC Invests $7.59 Million in First Financial Bancorp. $FFBC

Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 272,318 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $7,592,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 55.0% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 97,727 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,441,000 after purchasing an additional 34,676 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 4.6% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 56,205 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,404,000 after buying an additional 2,458 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 3.9% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 589,799 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $14,733,000 after buying an additional 22,227 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 571.4% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 7,412 shares of the bank’s stock worth $185,000 after buying an additional 6,308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 318,298 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,951,000 after buying an additional 17,911 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Archie M. Brown sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.93, for a total value of $309,300.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 243,758 shares in the company, valued at $7,539,434.94. This represents a 3.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Scott T. Crawley sold 2,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.16, for a total transaction of $92,232.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 22,711 shares in the company, valued at approximately $775,807.76. The trade was a 10.63% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 17,440 shares of company stock worth $559,318 over the last three months. 1.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

First Financial Bancorp. Price Performance

Shares of FFBC opened at $34.14 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $32.98 and its 200 day moving average is $30.29. First Financial Bancorp. has a 12-month low of $23.06 and a 12-month high of $36.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market cap of $3.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.06 and a beta of 0.92.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The bank reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.02. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 20.77% and a return on equity of 11.13%. The business had revenue of $264.17 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $270.29 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.74 EPS. First Financial Bancorp.’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that First Financial Bancorp. will post 3.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Financial Bancorp. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is an increase from First Financial Bancorp.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio is 35.34%.

First Financial Bancorp. Company Profile

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.