Insider Selling: First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Director Sells 740 Shares of Stock

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Director Dawn Morris sold 740 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.90, for a total value of $22,866.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 9,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $295,033.20. The trade was a 7.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

First Financial Bancorp. Price Performance

Shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock traded down $0.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $30.76. 898,883 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 918,163. The business has a 50-day moving average of $29.31 and a 200 day moving average of $27.73. First Financial Bancorp. has a fifty-two week low of $22.93 and a fifty-two week high of $31.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.23 billion, a PE ratio of 10.87 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

First Financial Bancorp. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.34%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Financial Bancorp.

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FFBC. Waverly Advisors LLC raised its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 0.8% in the first quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 46,429 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,294,000 after buying an additional 376 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 2.9% during the first quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,736 shares of the bank’s stock worth $383,000 after purchasing an additional 381 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 26,260 shares of the bank’s stock worth $657,000 after purchasing an additional 389 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 3,309 shares of the bank’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 19.4% during the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,903 shares of the bank’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 472 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on FFBC shares. Wall Street Zen cut First Financial Bancorp. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, May 24th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $34.00 price target on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a report on Monday, April 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on First Financial Bancorp. from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Stephens began coverage on First Financial Bancorp. in a report on Friday, March 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $33.00 price target for the company. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on First Financial Bancorp. from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, First Financial Bancorp. has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $33.00.

First Financial Bancorp. Company 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.