First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC - Get Free Report) insider Claude Davis sold 26,123 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.45, for a total value of $795,445.35. Following the sale, the insider owned 30,410 shares in the company, valued at $925,984.50. The trade was a 46.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.
First Financial Bancorp. Price Performance
Shares of FFBC stock opened at $30.41 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84. First Financial Bancorp. has a 52 week low of $22.93 and a 52 week high of $31.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.19 billion, a PE ratio of 10.75 and a beta of 0.94. The stock's fifty day moving average is $28.43 and its 200-day moving average is $26.89.
First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. 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 11.09% and a net margin of 20.92%.The business had revenue of $251.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $249.00 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.71 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that First Financial Bancorp. will post 3.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.
First Financial Bancorp. Dividend Announcement
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. First Financial Bancorp.'s dividend payout ratio is 35.34%.
Institutional Trading of First Financial Bancorp.
Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FFBC. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,929,185 shares of the bank's stock valued at $273,448,000 after acquiring an additional 215,357 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,243,149 shares of the bank's stock worth $156,205,000 after acquiring an additional 30,043 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,851,427 shares of the bank's stock worth $121,383,000 after acquiring an additional 354,833 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,374,365 shares of the bank's stock worth $59,415,000 after acquiring an additional 22,389 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,309,205 shares of the bank's stock valued at $32,756,000 after buying an additional 42,116 shares during the last quarter. 77.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
FFBC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Hovde Group increased their price target on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Stephens started coverage on First Financial Bancorp. in a research report on Friday, March 27th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $33.00 target price on the stock. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $34.00 target price on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research report on Monday. Weiss Ratings upgraded First Financial Bancorp. from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on First Financial Bancorp. from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $33.00.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on First Financial Bancorp.
First Financial Bancorp. Company Profile
(
Get Free Report)
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.
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