VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Makes New $1.46 Million Investment in First Financial Bancorp. $FFBC

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 60,179 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $1,460,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 43.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,522 shares of the bank’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 464 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 24.4% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,201 shares of the bank’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 432 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. bought a new stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. during the first quarter worth approximately $78,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 36.5% during the first quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 3,570 shares of the bank’s stock worth $89,000 after buying an additional 954 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP raised its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 94.3% during the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 4,861 shares of the bank’s stock worth $121,000 after buying an additional 2,359 shares during the last quarter. 77.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Financial Bancorp.

In related news, CEO Archie M. Brown sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.79, for a total transaction of $309,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 240,891 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,971,687.89. This represents a 4.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas Murray Obrien sold 7,383 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.54, for a total transaction of $195,944.82. Following the transaction, the director owned 46,480 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,233,579.20. The trade was a 13.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on FFBC shares. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $29.00 price target on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of First Financial Bancorp. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, First Financial Bancorp. has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.83.

First Financial Bancorp. Price Performance

First Financial Bancorp. stock opened at $24.35 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.33 billion, a PE ratio of 9.74 and a beta of 0.96. First Financial Bancorp. has a twelve month low of $21.10 and a twelve month high of $31.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The company has a 50 day moving average of $25.64 and a 200-day moving average of $24.59.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 15th. The bank reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 19.41% and a return on equity of 10.57%. The company had revenue of $179.99 million during the quarter. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Financial Bancorp. Company Profile

First Financial Bancorp. operates as the bank holding company for First Financial Bank that provides commercial banking and related services to individuals and businesses in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, and Illinois. The company offers checking, savings, and money-market accounts; and accepts various deposit products, such as interest-bearing and non-interest-bearing accounts, time deposits, and cash management services for commercial customers.