First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Insider Sells $122,080.68 in Stock

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) insider Richard S. Dennen sold 4,068 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.01, for a total transaction of $122,080.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 70,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,120,266.52. This represents a 5.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Up 1.6 %

FFBC stock opened at $30.34 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.90 billion, a PE ratio of 13.08 and a beta of 0.99. First Financial Bancorp. has a 12 month low of $19.92 and a 12 month high of $31.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.75.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $302.82 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $214.00 million. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 10.32% and a net margin of 18.55%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.67 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Financial Bancorp. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.16%. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.38%.

Institutional Trading of First Financial Bancorp.

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FFBC. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 0.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,732,162 shares of the bank’s stock worth $149,587,000 after acquiring an additional 60,612 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,643,440 shares of the bank’s stock worth $117,154,000 after purchasing an additional 39,655 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,271,990 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $57,333,000 after purchasing an additional 34,977 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 1.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,282,349 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $32,354,000 after purchasing an additional 23,472 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Financial Bank Trust Division boosted its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 4.2% in the third quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division now owns 901,908 shares of the bank’s stock worth $22,755,000 after buying an additional 36,679 shares during the period. 77.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

First Financial Bancorp. Company Profile

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.