Squarepoint Ops LLC Sells 71,924 Shares of First Financial Bancorp. $FFBC

Squarepoint Ops LLC lessened its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) by 24.6% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 220,863 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 71,924 shares during the quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC’s holdings in First Financial Bancorp. were worth $7,472,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of FFBC. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 3,187.9% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 4,107,063 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $138,942,000 after purchasing an additional 3,982,149 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $56,956,000 after purchasing an additional 1,732,223 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. bought a new stake in First Financial Bancorp. in the first quarter valued at about $34,058,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in First Financial Bancorp. in the second quarter valued at about $40,815,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 194.9% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,248,076 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $31,227,000 after buying an additional 824,920 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on FFBC shares. Wall Street Zen cut First Financial Bancorp. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Raymond James Financial increased their price target on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a report on Friday, September 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, First Financial Bancorp. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other First Financial Bancorp. news, CEO Archie M. Brown sold 5,000 shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.93, for a total value of $164,650.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 238,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,862,300.94. The trade was a 2.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Scott T. Crawley sold 2,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.16, for a total transaction of $92,232.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 22,711 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $775,807.76. This trade represents a 10.63% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 27,788 shares of company stock valued at $919,006 in the last quarter. 1.08% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Performance

FFBC stock opened at $32.53 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $33.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market cap of $3.41 billion, a PE ratio of 11.49 and a beta of 0.91. First Financial Bancorp. has a 1-year low of $23.06 and a 1-year high of $36.24.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The bank reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 11.13% and a net margin of 20.77%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.74 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that First Financial Bancorp. will post 3.22 earnings per share for the current year.

First Financial Bancorp. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. This is a boost from First Financial Bancorp.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. First Financial Bancorp.’s payout ratio is presently 36.75%.

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.