Maltese Capital Management LLC Raises Holdings in First Financial Bancorp. $FFBC

Maltese Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) by 171.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 142,500 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 90,000 shares during the quarter. Maltese Capital Management LLC owned about 0.14% of First Financial Bancorp. worth $3,598,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. CenterBook Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. during the 3rd quarter worth $1,504,000. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. grew its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 378,913 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,192,000 after purchasing an additional 17,549 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. in the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,158,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 14.4% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 373,524 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,431,000 after purchasing an additional 47,142 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 0.4% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,340,113 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $56,777,000 after purchasing an additional 10,470 shares during the period. 77.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other First Financial Bancorp. news, CAO Karen B. Woods sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.28, for a total transaction of $302,800.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 63,954 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,936,527.12. This trade represents a 13.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Gregory A. Harris sold 1,821 shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.43, for a total transaction of $53,592.03. Following the sale, the insider owned 42,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,248,744.33. This trade represents a 4.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 32,141 shares of company stock valued at $969,429 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on First Financial Bancorp. from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on First Financial Bancorp. from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings upgraded First Financial Bancorp. from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Hovde Group lifted their price target on First Financial Bancorp. from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $30.50.

First Financial Bancorp. Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock opened at $26.91 on Tuesday. First Financial Bancorp. has a 1 year low of $21.10 and a 1 year high of $31.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $28.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.26. The company has a market capitalization of $2.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.12 and a beta of 0.97.

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

First Financial Bancorp. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 2nd. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio is 37.59%.

First Financial Bancorp. Profile

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.