US Bancorp DE Sells 480 Shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC)

US Bancorp DE lessened its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) by 0.2% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 197,521 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 480 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in First Financial Bancorp. were worth $4,983,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in FFBC. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 0.9% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,732,162 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $149,587,000 after acquiring an additional 60,612 shares during the period. First Financial Bank Trust Division lifted its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 4.2% during the third quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division now owns 901,908 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $22,755,000 after acquiring an additional 36,679 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lifted its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 6.8% during the first quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 625,822 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $14,031,000 after acquiring an additional 39,870 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 94.0% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 338,711 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,526,000 after acquiring an additional 164,105 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 23.9% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 305,942 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,917,000 after acquiring an additional 58,963 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.23% of the company’s stock.

First Financial Bancorp. Trading Down 1.2 %

NASDAQ FFBC opened at $25.36 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.93 and a beta of 0.99. 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 stock’s 50-day moving average is $25.38 and its 200-day moving average is $24.06. First Financial Bancorp. has a one year low of $19.00 and a one year high of $28.25.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $302.82 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 last year, the firm posted $0.67 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Financial Bancorp. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on FFBC shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on First Financial Bancorp. from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price 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.

Insider Transactions at First Financial Bancorp.

In related news, insider James R. Shank sold 3,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.34, for a total transaction of $97,458.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,374 shares in the company, valued at approximately $404,951.16. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider James R. Shank sold 3,700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.34, for a total transaction of $97,458.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,374 shares in the company, valued at approximately $404,951.16. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Claude E. Davis sold 29,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.60, for a total value of $771,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 53,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,425,121.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

First Financial Bancorp. 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.