First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) CFO James Anderson Sells 4,000 Shares of Stock

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) CFO James Anderson sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.73, for a total transaction of $134,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 114,537 shares in the company, valued at $3,863,333.01. This trade represents a 3.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Up 0.1%

FFBC opened at $33.83 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.55 billion, a PE ratio of 11.95 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. First Financial Bancorp. has a 52 week low of $23.06 and a 52 week high of $36.24.

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

First Financial Bancorp. Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FFBC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on First Financial Bancorp. from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Wall Street Zen lowered First Financial Bancorp. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.67.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 11.4% in the second quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 18,620 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $630,000 after acquiring an additional 1,907 shares in the last quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division increased its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 1.8% during the second quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division now owns 836,135 shares of the bank’s stock worth $28,286,000 after purchasing an additional 14,763 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co of the South purchased a new stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. during the 2nd quarter valued at $3,952,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 29.7% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,236,781 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $34,481,000 after purchasing an additional 283,306 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. boosted its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 333,019 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,285,000 after purchasing an additional 24,654 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.