First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Shares Purchased by Nordea Investment Management AB

Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) by 21.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 295,967 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 52,739 shares during the quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB’s holdings in First Financial Bancorp. were worth $8,006,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of FFBC. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 26,617 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $591,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp boosted its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 3.7% during the second quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 86,359 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,919,000 after buying an additional 3,093 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 94.0% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 338,711 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,526,000 after buying an additional 164,105 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 0.9% during the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new position in First Financial Bancorp. during the 2nd quarter worth $1,205,000. Institutional investors own 77.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

First Financial Bancorp. Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FFBC opened at $26.46 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $28.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.06. The company has a market capitalization of $2.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.41 and a beta of 1.02. 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. has a twelve month low of $20.59 and a twelve month high of $31.18.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $302.82 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 in the prior year, the company earned $0.67 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Financial Bancorp. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. First Financial Bancorp.’s payout ratio is 41.38%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Scott T. Crawley sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,279 shares in the company, valued at approximately $565,067.49. This trade represents a 13.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Richard S. Dennen sold 932 shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total transaction of $27,960.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 74,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,241,600. This trade represents a 1.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,700 shares of company stock worth $335,429 over the last 90 days. 2.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.