Insider Selling: First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Insider Sells 3,000 Shares of Stock

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) insider Scott T. Crawley sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.31, for a total transaction of $87,930.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,279 shares in the company, valued at approximately $565,067.49. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

First Financial Bancorp. Trading Down 4.3 %

Shares of FFBC opened at $28.13 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $25.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.18. First Financial Bancorp. has a twelve month low of $19.00 and a twelve month high of $29.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.13 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.01. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 10.32% and a net margin of 18.55%. The company had revenue of $302.82 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $214.00 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.67 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.58 EPS for the current year.

First Financial Bancorp. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.41%. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.38%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Financial Bancorp.

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 23.9% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 305,942 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,917,000 after purchasing an additional 58,963 shares in the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 115.9% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 58,070 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,264,000 after buying an additional 31,170 shares in the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new stake in First Financial Bancorp. in the first quarter worth about $752,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 76.6% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 46,793 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,049,000 after acquiring an additional 20,299 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. grew its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 6.8% during the 1st quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 625,822 shares of the bank’s stock worth $14,031,000 after acquiring an additional 39,870 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on FFBC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on 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. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target 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.

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.