First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,510,000 shares, a decline of 10.1% from the October 15th total of 1,680,000 shares. Approximately 1.6% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 414,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.6 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other First Financial Bancorp. 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $404,951.16. The trade was a 19.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Claude E. Davis sold 29,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.60, for a total transaction of $771,400.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 53,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,425,121.60. This represents a 35.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 36,632 shares of company stock valued at $984,748 in the last three months. 2.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Financial Bancorp.

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Financial Management Professionals Inc. purchased a new position in First Financial Bancorp. during the third quarter valued at $28,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new position in First Financial Bancorp. during the third quarter valued at $30,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 63.9% during the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 1,732 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 675 shares during the period. Bogart Wealth LLC grew its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 2,976.9% in the 3rd quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 2,000 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 1,935 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 23.1% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,340 shares of the bank’s stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 627 shares during the period. 77.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of FFBC traded down $0.21 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $28.69. 65,076 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 374,616. First Financial Bancorp. has a 52 week low of $19.92 and a 52 week high of $30.11. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $25.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.53. The company has a market cap of $2.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.46 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

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

First Financial Bancorp. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.35%. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.38%.

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.