First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Insider Sells $92,232.00 in Stock

Key Points

  • Insider sale: Scott Crawley sold 2,700 First Financial Bancorp. shares for $92,232, reducing his direct ownership by 10.63% to 22,711 shares.
  • Financial performance and dividend: The bank reported quarterly EPS of $0.80, beating estimates by $0.02, while revenue rose 16.7% year over year. It also increased its quarterly dividend to $0.26, implying a 3.0% annual yield.
  • Market view: Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $33.67, while institutional investors own 77.23% of the company.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC - Get Free Report) insider Scott Crawley sold 2,700 shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.16, for a total value of $92,232.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 22,711 shares in the company, valued at $775,807.76. This represents a 10.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:FFBC opened at $34.14 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.06 and a beta of 0.92. First Financial Bancorp. has a 1 year low of $23.06 and a 1 year high of $36.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85.

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

First Financial Bancorp. Increases Dividend




The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. This is a boost from First Financial Bancorp.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. First Financial Bancorp.'s payout ratio is 35.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on FFBC shares. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on First Financial Bancorp. from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on First Financial Bancorp. from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Wall Street Zen lowered First Financial Bancorp. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a report on Monday, June 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $33.67.

View Our Latest Analysis on First Financial Bancorp.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Financial Bancorp.

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in First Financial Bancorp. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $936,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 42,116 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 174.7% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 72,244 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,808,000 after acquiring an additional 45,943 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 2.0% during 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. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC lifted its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 114.5% during the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 84,595 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,117,000 after purchasing an additional 45,149 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.23% of the company's stock.

About First Financial Bancorp.

(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.

See Also

Insider Buying and Selling by Quarter for First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC)

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