Millennium Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC)

Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) by 162.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 242,187 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 149,896 shares during the quarter. Millennium Management LLC owned 0.25% of First Financial Bancorp. worth $5,381,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of FFBC. EntryPoint Capital LLC raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 675 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 23.1% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,340 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 627 shares in the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in First Financial Bancorp. in the 2nd quarter valued at about $77,000. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in First Financial Bancorp. in the 2nd quarter valued at about $96,000. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new stake in First Financial Bancorp. in the 2nd quarter valued at about $169,000. 77.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other First Financial Bancorp. news, insider Claude E. Davis sold 29,000 shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.60, for a total transaction of $771,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 53,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,425,121.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on FFBC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on First Financial Bancorp. from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on First Financial Bancorp. from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th.

First Financial Bancorp. Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FFBC opened at $25.23 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. First Financial Bancorp. has a fifty-two week low of $17.23 and a fifty-two week high of $28.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.41 billion, a PE ratio of 10.38 and a beta of 0.99. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $25.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.60.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The bank reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $314.22 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $203.50 million. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 10.69% and a net margin of 19.67%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.72 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Financial Bancorp. Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This is a positive change from First Financial Bancorp.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.80%. First Financial Bancorp.’s payout ratio is 39.51%.

First Financial Bancorp. 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.