Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC Sells 15,748 Shares of First Financial Bancorp. $FFBC

Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC lessened its position in First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) by 12.7% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 108,329 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 15,748 shares during the period. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC’s holdings in First Financial Bancorp. were worth $3,665,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of FFBC. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in First Financial Bancorp. in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $936,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,309,205 shares of the bank’s stock worth $32,756,000 after buying an additional 42,116 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 38.1% during the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 124,914 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,483,000 after buying an additional 34,441 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,929,185 shares of the bank’s stock worth $273,448,000 after buying an additional 215,357 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC boosted its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 114.5% in the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 84,595 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,117,000 after acquiring an additional 45,149 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on FFBC shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of First Financial Bancorp. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, 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 research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.67.

First Financial Bancorp. Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FFBC opened at $32.63 on Tuesday. First Financial Bancorp. has a 1-year low of $23.06 and a 1-year high of $36.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.43 billion, a PE ratio of 11.53 and a beta of 0.92. The business’s 50 day moving average is $33.92 and its 200-day moving average is $31.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The bank reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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%.First Financial Bancorp.’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.74 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that First Financial Bancorp. will post 3.22 earnings per share for the current year.

First Financial Bancorp. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be issued a $0.26 dividend. This is a boost from First Financial Bancorp.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. First Financial Bancorp.’s payout ratio is presently 36.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Financial Bancorp.

In other news, insider Scott T. Crawley sold 2,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.16, for a total value of $92,232.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 22,711 shares in the company, valued at approximately $775,807.76. This represents a 10.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Archie M. Brown sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.93, for a total transaction of $309,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 243,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,539,434.94. This represents a 3.94% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 32,788 shares of company stock worth $1,063,656. Corporate insiders own 1.08% 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.