Insider Selling: First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) CEO Sells 11,500 Shares of Stock

by · The Cerbat Gem

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC – Get Free Report) CEO Archie Brown sold 11,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.80, for a total value of $308,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 229,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,147,678.80. The trade was a 4.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Performance

Shares of FFBC traded up $0.06 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $26.64. 656,932 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 453,804. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.62 billion, a PE ratio of 9.87 and a beta of 1.00. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89. First Financial Bancorp. has a 52-week low of $21.10 and a 52-week high of $29.21.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The bank reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 20.64% and a return on equity of 10.72%. The company had revenue of $234.01 million for the quarter. On average, equities research analysts expect that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

First Financial Bancorp. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 1st were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 1st. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.04%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Financial Bancorp.

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lifted its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 4.9% in the second quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 378,913 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,192,000 after acquiring an additional 17,549 shares in the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new position in First Financial Bancorp. in the 1st quarter valued at about $418,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS lifted its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 12.1% in the 2nd quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 20,313 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $493,000 after purchasing an additional 2,200 shares in the last quarter. MQS Management LLC lifted its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 20.5% in the 2nd quarter. MQS Management LLC now owns 26,192 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $635,000 after purchasing an additional 4,463 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 70.0% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 74,527 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,862,000 after purchasing an additional 30,677 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FFBC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research report on Monday. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $28.00 price target (down previously from $30.00) on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Hovde Group began coverage on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research report on Monday, October 6th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of First Financial Bancorp. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, First Financial Bancorp. presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.50.

Get Our Latest Analysis on First Financial Bancorp.

About First Financial Bancorp.

(Get Free Report)

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.

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