Public Sector Pension Investment Board Raises Holdings in First Financial Bancorp. $FFBC

Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its stake in First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) by 14.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 373,524 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 47,142 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board owned about 0.39% of First Financial Bancorp. worth $9,431,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in FFBC. Bogart Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in First Financial Bancorp. in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. First Horizon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 2,741.3% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,790 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 1,727 shares during the last quarter. Financial Consulate Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. in the 3rd quarter valued at $47,000. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 21.3% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,670 shares of the bank’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares during 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, CEO Archie M. Brown sold 11,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.80, for a total transaction of $308,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 229,391 shares in the company, valued at $6,147,678.80. This represents a 4.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Richard S. Dennen sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.20, for a total transaction of $604,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 61,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,868,051.20. This trade represents a 24.43% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 44,821 shares of company stock valued at $1,273,992 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.13% of the company’s stock.

First Financial Bancorp. Trading Up 0.4%

NASDAQ:FFBC opened at $30.31 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.99 billion, a PE ratio of 11.39 and a beta of 1.00. First Financial Bancorp. has a 52-week low of $21.10 and a 52-week high of $31.38. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $27.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $25.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.02. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 10.77% and a net margin of 20.30%.The company had revenue of $251.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $249.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.71 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.64 EPS for the current year.

First Financial Bancorp. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. First Financial Bancorp.’s payout ratio is presently 37.59%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on FFBC. Weiss Ratings raised First Financial Bancorp. from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Hovde Group increased their price objective on First Financial Bancorp. from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on First Financial Bancorp. from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on First Financial Bancorp. from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $30.50.

First Financial Bancorp. Profile

First Financial Bancorp (NASDAQ: FFBC) is a bank holding company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the parent of First Financial Bank. The company provides a comprehensive suite of commercial and consumer banking services through a network of more than 100 full-service banking centers and mortgage offices across Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky. Its core mission centers on delivering personalized relationship banking to businesses, individuals and public sector clients.

First Financial Bank’s product portfolio includes deposit solutions such as checking, savings and money market accounts, alongside a range of lending offerings that cover commercial and industrial loans, real estate and construction financing, home mortgages and home equity lines of credit.