First Financial Bancorp. $FFBC Position Trimmed by State of Alaska Department of Revenue

State of Alaska Department of Revenue decreased its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) by 43.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 21,747 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 16,488 shares during the quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in First Financial Bancorp. were worth $680,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FFBC. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,617,522 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $184,493,000 after acquiring an additional 374,373 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake 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 worth $56,956,000 after acquiring an additional 1,732,223 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. during the 2nd quarter worth $40,815,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 29.7% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,236,781 shares of the bank’s stock worth $34,481,000 after acquiring an additional 283,306 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Financial Bank Trust Division grew its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division now owns 836,135 shares of the bank’s stock worth $28,286,000 after acquiring an additional 14,763 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on FFBC. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research report on Friday, September 4th. Wall Street Zen lowered First Financial Bancorp. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Truist Financial upgraded First Financial Bancorp. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $35.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 24th. Finally, Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on First Financial Bancorp. from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, First Financial Bancorp. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $34.00.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Up 2.6%

FFBC stock opened at $32.47 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.47 and a beta of 0.93. First Financial Bancorp. has a 52-week low of $23.06 and a 52-week high of $36.24. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $32.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $32.01.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The bank reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.02. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 20.77% and a return on equity of 11.13%. The firm had revenue of $264.17 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $270.29 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.74 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that First Financial Bancorp. will post 3.18 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Scott T. Crawley sold 2,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.16, for a total value of $92,232.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 22,711 shares in the company, valued at $775,807.76. This represents a 10.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Thomas O’Brien sold 16,088 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.77, for a total value of $527,203.76. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 30,392 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $995,945.84. This trade represents a 34.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 27,788 shares of company stock valued at $919,006 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

First Financial Bancorp. Company Profile

First Financial Bancorp. is a bank holding company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. Through its principal subsidiary, First Financial Bank, the company provides banking and financial services to businesses, individuals and organizations.

First Financial Bank offers commercial and consumer lending, deposit accounts, treasury management, cash management and other traditional banking products. Its services also include wealth management, investment services and mortgage-related solutions, helping customers manage borrowing, deposits, payments and longer-term financial needs.

The company serves communities primarily in Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky through a network of banking offices and digital banking channels.