Souders Financial Advisors Reduces Position in First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC)

Souders Financial Advisors lessened its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 71,421 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 1,320 shares during the quarter. Souders Financial Advisors’ holdings in First Financial Bancorp. were worth $1,587,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. EntryPoint Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 63.9% in the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 1,732 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 675 shares during the period. TFO Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 6,820.5% during the 4th quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,045 shares of the bank’s stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 3,001 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in 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. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. in the 2nd quarter valued at $77,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. in the 2nd quarter valued at $96,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at First Financial Bancorp.

In other news, insider Claude E. Davis sold 29,000 shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.60, for a total transaction of $771,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 53,576 shares in the company, valued at $1,425,121.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 2.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on FFBC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Royal Bank of Canada increased 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 report on Monday, July 29th.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FFBC opened at $25.23 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $2.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.17 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $25.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. First Financial Bancorp. has a fifty-two week low of $17.23 and a fifty-two week high of $28.25.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The bank reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 19.67% and a return on equity of 10.69%. The firm had revenue of $314.22 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $203.50 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.72 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.58 earnings per share for the current year.

First Financial Bancorp. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 2nd were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.80%. This is a boost from First Financial Bancorp.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. First Financial Bancorp.’s payout ratio is presently 38.71%.

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.