First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Sets New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $32.31 and last traded at $32.44, with a volume of 612335 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $32.30.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FFBC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of First Financial Bancorp. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $34.00 price target on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, First Financial Bancorp. has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.00.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $3.35 billion, a PE ratio of 11.27 and a beta of 0.93. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $30.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.36.

First Financial Bancorp. Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.34%.

Insider Transactions at First Financial Bancorp.

In other news, CFO James M. Anderson sold 4,263 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total value 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 represents a 3.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Archie M. Brown sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.93, for a total transaction of $309,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 243,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,539,434.94. The trade was a 3.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 41,126 shares of company stock valued at $1,255,501 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Financial Bancorp.

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Waverly Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 0.8% in the first quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 46,429 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,294,000 after acquiring an additional 376 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 2.9% in the first quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,736 shares of the bank’s stock worth $383,000 after acquiring an additional 381 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 26,260 shares of the bank’s stock worth $657,000 after acquiring an additional 389 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 14.2% in the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 3,309 shares of the bank’s stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 412 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 19.4% in the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,903 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 472 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.23% of the company’s stock.

About First Financial Bancorp.

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.