First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $35.67, but opened at $33.24. First Financial Bancorp. shares last traded at $33.5080, with a volume of 241,412 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Raymond James Financial upped their price objective 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. Stephens began coverage on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research report on Friday, March 27th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $33.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of First Financial Bancorp. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a report on Monday, June 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, First Financial Bancorp. presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.67.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Down 6.0%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84. The company has a market cap of $3.52 billion, a PE ratio of 11.83 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.77.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The bank reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $264.17 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $270.29 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 company posted $0.74 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that First Financial Bancorp. will post 3.28 EPS for the current year.

First Financial Bancorp. Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. This is a positive change from First Financial Bancorp.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 1st. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Claude E. Davis sold 26,123 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 30,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $925,984.50. The trade was a 46.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Archie M. Brown sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 243,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,539,434.94. The trade was a 3.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 41,126 shares of company stock valued at $1,255,501 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. in the 4th quarter valued at about $936,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,309,205 shares of the bank’s stock worth $32,756,000 after purchasing an additional 42,116 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 174.7% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 72,244 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,808,000 after purchasing an additional 45,943 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,929,185 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $273,448,000 after buying an additional 215,357 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC raised its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 114.5% in the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 84,595 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,117,000 after buying an additional 45,149 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.23% 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.