State Street Corp Buys 39,655 Shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC)

State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) by 0.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,643,440 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 39,655 shares during the quarter. State Street Corp owned about 4.86% of First Financial Bancorp. worth $117,154,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 23.1% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,340 shares of the bank’s stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 627 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. in the second quarter worth about $265,000. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 10.4% in the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 28,414 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $631,000 after purchasing an additional 2,687 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 48,000 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,067,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Saxony Capital Management LLC increased its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 16.0% during the 2nd quarter. Saxony Capital Management LLC now owns 18,802 shares of the bank’s stock worth $418,000 after purchasing an additional 2,596 shares in the last quarter. 77.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at First Financial Bancorp.

In related news, insider Richard S. Dennen sold 4,068 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.01, for a total value of $122,080.68. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 70,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,120,266.52. The trade was a 5.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider James R. Shank sold 3,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $404,951.16. The trade was a 19.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 11,700 shares of company stock worth $335,429 in the last quarter. 2.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

First Financial Bancorp. Trading Down 0.1 %

FFBC opened at $28.94 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $27.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.35. First Financial Bancorp. has a 1-year low of $20.59 and a 1-year high of $31.18. The company has a market cap of $2.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.47 and a beta of 1.01. 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.67 earnings per share (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 analysts’ expectations of $214.00 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.67 EPS. Analysts predict that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Financial Bancorp. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio is 41.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on FFBC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stephens raised First Financial Bancorp. from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th.

About First Financial Bancorp.

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.