First Financial Bancorp. (FFBC) To Go Ex-Dividend on September 1st

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, July 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be paid a dividend of 0.26 per share by the bank on Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. This is a 4.0% increase from First Financial Bancorp.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25.

First Financial Bancorp. has increased its dividend payment by an average of 0.0%per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 1 years. First Financial Bancorp. has a dividend payout ratio of 37.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect First Financial Bancorp. to earn $3.45 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.04 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 30.1%.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Up 0.3%

FFBC opened at $32.82 on Friday. First Financial Bancorp. has a fifty-two week low of $23.06 and a fifty-two week high of $36.24. The business has a 50-day moving average of $33.90 and a 200-day moving average of $31.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a market capitalization of $3.45 billion, a PE ratio of 11.60 and a beta of 0.92.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The bank reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.02. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 11.13% and a net margin of 20.77%.The business had revenue of $264.17 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $270.29 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.74 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that First Financial Bancorp. will post 3.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other First Financial Bancorp. news, CEO Archie M. Brown sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.93, for a total value of $309,300.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 243,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,539,434.94. This trade represents a 3.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO James M. Anderson sold 4,000 shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.73, for a total value of $134,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 114,537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,863,333.01. This represents a 3.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 32,788 shares of company stock worth $1,063,656. Corporate insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Financial Bancorp.

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of FFBC. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new stake in First Financial Bancorp. in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,085,000. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 3,187.9% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 4,107,063 shares of the bank’s stock worth $138,942,000 after buying an additional 3,982,149 shares in the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in First Financial Bancorp. during the second quarter valued at about $253,000. iSAM Funds UK Ltd bought a new position in First Financial Bancorp. during the second quarter valued at about $315,000. Finally, Nykredit A S acquired a new position in First Financial Bancorp. in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $55,000. 77.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Financial Bancorp. Company 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.