James Anderson Sells 4,000 Shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) 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 stock was sold at an average price of $33.73, for a total transaction of $134,920.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 114,537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,863,333.01. This trade represents a 3.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

First Financial Bancorp. Price Performance

First Financial Bancorp. stock opened at $33.83 on Friday. First Financial Bancorp. has a 52-week low of $23.06 and a 52-week high of $36.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.95 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The bank reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $264.17 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $270.29 million. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 20.77% and a return on equity of 11.13%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.74 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that First Financial Bancorp. will post 3.22 EPS 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be issued a $0.26 dividend. 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 positive change from First Financial Bancorp.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. First Financial Bancorp.’s payout ratio is currently 35.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Financial Bancorp.

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 557.5% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,042,913 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $56,956,000 after buying an additional 1,732,223 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. purchased a new position in First Financial Bancorp. in the first quarter worth approximately $34,058,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 194.9% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,248,076 shares of the bank’s stock worth $31,227,000 after acquiring an additional 824,920 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 6.0% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,617,522 shares of the bank’s stock worth $184,493,000 after acquiring an additional 374,373 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 67.2% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 907,478 shares of the bank’s stock worth $22,705,000 after purchasing an additional 364,597 shares during the period. 77.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.