Gregory Harris Sells 1,821 Shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Stock

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) insider Gregory Harris sold 1,821 shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.43, for a total transaction of $53,592.03. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 42,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,248,744.33. This trade represents a 4.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of FFBC traded down $0.15 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $29.02. 306,507 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,194,963. The stock has a market cap of $2.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.91 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $26.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $25.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. First Financial Bancorp. has a twelve month low of $21.10 and a twelve month high of $29.94.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $251.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $249.00 million. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 20.30% and a return on equity of 10.77%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.71 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

First Financial Bancorp. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on FFBC. Zacks Research lowered First Financial Bancorp. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $28.00 target price (down from $30.00) on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Hovde Group lifted their target price on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of First Financial Bancorp. from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $30.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FFBC. First Horizon Corp bought a new stake in First Financial Bancorp. during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Bogart Wealth LLC acquired a new position in First Financial Bancorp. in the third quarter worth $25,000. MAI Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 530.6% during the third quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 1,545 shares of the bank’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 2,741.3% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,790 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 1,727 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Consulate Inc. bought a new position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. in the third quarter valued at about $47,000. 77.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.