JPMorgan Chase & Co. Reduces Stock Position in First Financial Bancorp. $FFBC

JPMorgan Chase & Co. trimmed its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) by 2.9% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,710,226 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 79,902 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in First Financial Bancorp. were worth $68,433,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 19.4% in the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,903 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 472 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 1.7% during the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 28,308 shares of the bank’s stock worth $715,000 after purchasing an additional 481 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank boosted its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 1.8% during the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 27,784 shares of the bank’s stock worth $702,000 after purchasing an additional 493 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 15.8% in the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 4,125 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $107,000 after purchasing an additional 564 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 0.5% in the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 117,088 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,956,000 after buying an additional 606 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.23% of the company’s stock.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FFBC opened at $26.72 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.79 billion, a PE ratio of 10.05 and a beta of 0.97. First Financial Bancorp. has a 12 month low of $21.10 and a 12 month 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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.27.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.02. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 20.30% and a return on equity of 10.77%. The business had revenue of $251.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $249.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.71 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

First Financial Bancorp. Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Gregory A. Harris sold 1,821 shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.43, for a total value 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. The trade was a 4.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Richard S. Dennen sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.20, for a total value of $604,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 61,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,868,051.20. The trade was a 24.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 32,141 shares of company stock valued at $969,429 in the last quarter. 1.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.