Short Interest in First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Drops By 9.7%

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,490,000 shares, a drop of 9.7% from the November 15th total of 1,650,000 shares. Approximately 1.6% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 416,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.6 days.

First Financial Bancorp. Price Performance

First Financial Bancorp. stock traded down $0.68 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $28.59. The stock had a trading volume of 379,343 shares, compared to its average volume of 375,605. First Financial Bancorp. has a one year low of $20.59 and a one year high of $31.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.62 and a beta of 1.01. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $27.63 and its 200 day moving average is $25.40.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $302.82 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $214.00 million. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 10.32% and a net margin of 18.55%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.67 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Financial Bancorp. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. First Financial Bancorp.’s payout ratio is currently 41.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Stephens raised First Financial Bancorp. from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on First Financial Bancorp. from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider James R. Shank sold 3,700 shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.34, for a total value of $97,458.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $404,951.16. The trade was a 19.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Scott T. Crawley sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.31, for a total value of $87,930.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,279 shares in the company, valued at approximately $565,067.49. This represents a 13.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,700 shares of company stock valued at $335,429 in the last 90 days. 2.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Financial Bancorp.

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Financial Management Professionals Inc. bought a new stake in First Financial Bancorp. in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Bogart Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 2,976.9% in the third quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 2,000 shares of the bank’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 1,935 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 23.1% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,340 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $75,000 after buying an additional 627 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in First Financial Bancorp. during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $77,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.23% of the company’s stock.

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.