QRG Capital Management Inc. Has $907,000 Stock Holdings in First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC)

QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,968 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,543 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in First Financial Bancorp. were worth $907,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of FFBC. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 0.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,732,162 shares of the bank’s stock worth $149,587,000 after buying an additional 60,612 shares during the last quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division boosted its position in 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 worth $22,755,000 after purchasing an additional 36,679 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 39,870 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 94.0% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 338,711 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,526,000 after purchasing an additional 164,105 shares during the period. Finally, Denali Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 41.1% in the second quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 302,700 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,726,000 after buying an additional 88,100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.23% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Scott T. Crawley sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.31, for a total transaction of $87,930.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,279 shares in the company, valued at approximately $565,067.49. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other First Financial Bancorp. news, insider Scott T. Crawley sold 3,000 shares of First Financial Bancorp. 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 sale, the insider now owns 19,279 shares in the company, valued at $565,067.49. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider James R. Shank sold 3,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were 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 owns 15,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $404,951.16. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 35,700 shares of company stock worth $956,788. 2.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FFBC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of 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 lifted their price objective on First Financial Bancorp. from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th.

First Financial Bancorp. Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock opened at $28.53 on Friday. First Financial Bancorp. has a 1 year low of $19.00 and a 1 year high of $29.77. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $25.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.23. The company has a market cap of $2.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.30 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 18.55% and a return on equity of 10.32%. The company had revenue of $302.82 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $214.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.67 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.58 EPS for the current year.

First Financial Bancorp. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.36%. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.38%.

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.