First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) CEO Archie Brown Sells 5,000 Shares of Stock

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) CEO Archie Brown sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.93, for a total transaction of $164,650.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 238,758 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,862,300.94. This represents a 2.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

First Financial Bancorp. Price Performance

FFBC traded up $0.16 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $32.83. The company had a trading volume of 645,816 shares, compared to its average volume of 942,190. First Financial Bancorp. has a twelve month low of $23.06 and a twelve month high of $36.24. The company has a market capitalization of $3.45 billion, a PE ratio of 11.60 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.06.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The bank reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 20.77% and a return on equity of 11.13%. First Financial Bancorp.’s revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.74 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that First Financial Bancorp. will post 3.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Financial Bancorp. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This is an increase 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 dividend yield of 3.2%. First Financial Bancorp.’s payout ratio is 36.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on FFBC shares. Truist Financial raised their price target on First Financial Bancorp. from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of First Financial Bancorp. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Raymond James Financial lifted 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 analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $33.67.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Financial Bancorp.

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FFBC. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 137.6% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 991 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 574 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 bought a new stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. in the 4th quarter valued at about $50,000. Nykredit A S bought a new stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. in the 2nd quarter valued at about $55,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $57,000. 77.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.