Edgestream Partners L.P. Acquires 24,654 Shares of First Financial Bancorp. $FFBC

Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) by 8.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 333,019 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 24,654 shares during the quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. owned 0.32% of First Financial Bancorp. worth $9,285,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in FFBC. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 215,357 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 6.0% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,617,522 shares of the bank’s stock worth $184,493,000 after purchasing an additional 374,373 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,851,427 shares of the bank’s stock worth $121,383,000 after purchasing an additional 354,833 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,374,365 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $59,415,000 after purchasing an additional 22,389 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 557.5% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,042,913 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $56,956,000 after purchasing an additional 1,732,223 shares in the last quarter. 77.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at First Financial Bancorp.

In other First Financial Bancorp. news, insider Claude E. Davis sold 26,123 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.45, for a total value of $795,445.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 30,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $925,984.50. The trade was a 46.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Archie M. Brown sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 243,758 shares in the company, valued at $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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 36,863 shares of company stock valued at $1,127,611. Insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

First Financial Bancorp. Price Performance

Shares of FFBC stock opened at $33.82 on Thursday. First Financial Bancorp. has a 52 week low of $23.06 and a 52 week high of $36.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.55 billion, a PE ratio of 11.95 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $32.79 and its 200-day moving average is $30.12.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The bank reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $264.17 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $270.29 million. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 11.13% and a net margin of 20.77%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.74 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that First Financial Bancorp. will post 3.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Financial Bancorp. Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. This is a boost from First Financial Bancorp.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio is 35.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered First Financial Bancorp. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Truist Financial raised their target price on First Financial Bancorp. from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on 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. Finally, Raymond James Financial increased their price objective 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $33.67.

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.