First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Short Interest Update

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) saw a significant decline in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totaling 2,337,746 shares, a decline of 24.3% from the December 31st total of 3,089,387 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 899,776 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.6 days. Currently, 2.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Currently, 2.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 899,776 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.6 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on FFBC. Weiss Ratings raised First Financial Bancorp. from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $28.00 target price (down previously from $30.00) on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of First Financial Bancorp. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 13th. 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 stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $30.50.

First Financial Bancorp. Trading Up 1.5%

First Financial Bancorp. stock traded up $0.43 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $29.17. The company had a trading volume of 1,130,950 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,153,072. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market cap of $2.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.97 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $26.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.38. First Financial Bancorp. has a 1 year low of $21.10 and a 1 year high of $29.68.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.02. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 20.30% and a return on equity of 10.77%. The firm had revenue of $251.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $249.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.71 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

First Financial Bancorp. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.59%.

Insider Transactions at First Financial Bancorp.

In other First Financial Bancorp. news, CEO Archie M. Brown sold 11,500 shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.80, for a total value of $308,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 229,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,147,678.80. This trade represents a 4.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lifted its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 4.9% during the second quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 378,913 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,192,000 after buying an additional 17,549 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS raised its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 12.1% in the 2nd quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 20,313 shares of the bank’s stock worth $493,000 after acquiring an additional 2,200 shares in the last quarter. MQS Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 20.5% during the 2nd quarter. MQS Management LLC now owns 26,192 shares of the bank’s stock worth $635,000 after purchasing an additional 4,463 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new stake in First Financial Bancorp. during the second quarter valued at about $3,158,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 0.5% during the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 297,917 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,281,000 after purchasing an additional 1,408 shares in the last quarter. 77.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.