ProShare Advisors LLC Sells 17,385 Shares of First Financial Bancorp. $FFBC

ProShare Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) by 48.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,579 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 17,385 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in First Financial Bancorp. were worth $465,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FFBC. First Horizon Corp lifted its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 56.0% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 1,526 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 548 shares during the last quarter. MAI Capital Management lifted its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 530.6% during the 3rd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 1,545 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 19.4% during the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,903 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 472 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 21.7% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,036 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 541 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 14.2% during the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 3,309 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares during the last quarter. 77.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $34.00 price target on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Hovde Group boosted their target price on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Stephens began coverage on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Friday, March 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $33.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of First Financial Bancorp. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, May 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $33.00.

First Financial Bancorp. Trading Down 0.3%

FFBC opened at $30.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The company has a market cap of $3.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.87 and a beta of 0.94. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.75. First Financial Bancorp. has a fifty-two week low of $22.93 and a fifty-two week high of $31.38.

First Financial Bancorp. Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO James M. Anderson sold 4,263 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total transaction of $127,890.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 118,537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,556,110. The trade was a 3.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Claude E. Davis sold 26,123 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.45, for a total transaction of $795,445.35. Following the transaction, the insider owned 30,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $925,984.50. This represents a 46.21% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 31,126 shares of company stock valued at $946,201. Corporate insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

About First Financial Bancorp.

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.