First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Shares Sold by Advisors Asset Management Inc.

Advisors Asset Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) by 36.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 19,987 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 11,313 shares during the quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in First Financial Bancorp. were worth $504,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in First Financial Bancorp. during the 2nd quarter valued at $300,000. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 10.1% during the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 33,425 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $743,000 after acquiring an additional 3,067 shares in the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in First Financial Bancorp. during the 2nd quarter valued at $762,000. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 162.4% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 242,187 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,381,000 after acquiring an additional 149,896 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in First Financial Bancorp. during the 2nd quarter valued at $265,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.23% of the company’s stock.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock opened at $29.71 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $26.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $24.79. 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 company has a market capitalization of $2.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.81 and a beta of 0.99. First Financial Bancorp. has a 1-year low of $20.05 and a 1-year high of $31.18.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.01. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 10.32% and a net margin of 18.55%. 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 business earned $0.67 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.53 EPS for the current year.

First Financial Bancorp. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.38%.

Insider Transactions at First Financial Bancorp.

In other news, insider Scott T. Crawley sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $565,067.49. The trade was a 13.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Richard S. Dennen sold 4,068 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.01, for a total value of $122,080.68. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 70,652 shares in the company, valued at $2,120,266.52. This trade represents a 5.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 11,700 shares of company stock valued at $335,429. Corporate insiders own 2.04% of the company’s stock.

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.