Maltese Capital Management LLC Purchases 85,417 Shares of First Financial Bancorp. $FFBC

Maltese Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) by 59.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 227,917 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 85,417 shares during the period. Maltese Capital Management LLC’s holdings in First Financial Bancorp. were worth $5,702,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 26,260 shares of the bank’s stock worth $657,000 after acquiring an additional 389 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 14.2% during the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 3,309 shares of the bank’s stock worth $83,000 after buying an additional 412 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 19.4% during the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,903 shares of the bank’s stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 472 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake 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 last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 21.7% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,036 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 541 shares in the last quarter. 77.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered First Financial Bancorp. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $34.00 price target on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Stephens began coverage on First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Friday, March 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $33.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on First Financial Bancorp. from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $33.00.

First Financial Bancorp. Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:FFBC opened at $31.71 on Tuesday. First Financial Bancorp. has a 52-week low of $22.93 and a 52-week high of $32.66. The company has a market capitalization of $3.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.20 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84.

First Financial Bancorp. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.34%.

Insider Activity

In other First Financial Bancorp. news, CFO James M. Anderson sold 4,263 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total transaction of $127,890.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 118,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,556,110. This trade represents a 3.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Archie M. Brown sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.93, for a total value of $309,300.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 243,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,539,434.94. This represents a 3.94% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 41,126 shares of company stock valued at $1,255,501 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

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.