SG Americas Securities LLC Has $629,000 Stock Holdings in First Financial Bancorp. $FFBC

SG Americas Securities LLC reduced its stake in First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) by 68.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,544 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 49,700 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in First Financial Bancorp. were worth $629,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in FFBC. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 137.6% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 991 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 574 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Corp increased its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 56.0% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 1,526 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 548 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 38.7% during the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,743 shares of the bank’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 486 shares during the period. Smithfield Trust Co acquired a new position in First Financial Bancorp. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $50,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 21.7% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,036 shares of the bank’s stock worth $76,000 after acquiring an additional 541 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.23% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other First Financial Bancorp. news, insider Claude E. Davis sold 26,123 shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.45, for a total transaction of $795,445.35. Following the transaction, the insider owned 30,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $925,984.50. This trade represents a 46.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Archie M. Brown sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.93, for a total value of $309,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 243,758 shares in the company, valued at $7,539,434.94. The trade was a 3.94% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 41,126 shares of company stock valued at $1,255,501. Corporate insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FFBC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded First Financial Bancorp. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a report on Monday, June 8th. Raymond James Financial boosted their price target 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. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Stephens assumed coverage on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Friday, March 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $33.00 price objective on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $33.33.

First Financial Bancorp. Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FFBC opened at $34.31 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market cap of $3.60 billion, a PE ratio of 12.12 and a beta of 0.92. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $31.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $29.13. First Financial Bancorp. has a 1-year low of $23.06 and a 1-year high of $35.00.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $265.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $257.97 million. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 20.92% and a return on equity of 11.09%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.63 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that First Financial Bancorp. will post 3.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Financial Bancorp. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.