Insider Selling: First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Director Sells 787 Shares of Stock

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Director Dawn C. Morris sold 787 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.15, for a total value of $19,006.05. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,960 shares in the company, valued at $192,234. The trade was a 9.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Performance

First Financial Bancorp. stock opened at $24.27 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $23.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $26.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. The stock has a market cap of $2.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.11 and a beta of 0.94. First Financial Bancorp. has a fifty-two week low of $20.59 and a fifty-two week high of $31.18.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The bank reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.63. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 18.67% and a return on equity of 10.52%. The firm had revenue of $201.59 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $214.80 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.59 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Financial Bancorp. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.96%. First Financial Bancorp.’s payout ratio is 39.83%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Financial Bancorp.

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 0.7% during the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 58,585 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,463,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 4.0% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 10,923 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $273,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 24.4% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,201 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 432 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 12,269 shares of the bank’s stock worth $330,000 after acquiring an additional 453 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 43.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,522 shares of the bank’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 464 shares during the last quarter. 77.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Truist Financial assumed coverage on First Financial Bancorp. in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. They set a “hold” rating and a $27.00 price objective on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on First Financial Bancorp. from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on First Financial Bancorp. from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th.

About First Financial Bancorp.

First Financial Bancorp. operates as the bank holding company for First Financial Bank that provides commercial banking and related services to individuals and businesses in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, and Illinois. The company offers checking, savings, and money-market accounts; and accepts various deposit products, such as interest-bearing and non-interest-bearing accounts, time deposits, and cash management services for commercial customers.