Insider Selling: First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) CEO Sells $309,300.00 in Stock

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) CEO Archie Brown sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.93, for a total transaction of $309,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 243,758 shares in the company, valued at $7,539,434.94. This trade represents a 3.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Up 0.7%

First Financial Bancorp. stock opened at $31.78 on Friday. First Financial Bancorp. has a 1-year low of $22.93 and a 1-year high of $31.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.23 and a beta of 0.93. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $30.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.34%.

Institutional Trading of First Financial Bancorp.

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 137.6% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 991 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 574 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Corp increased its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 56.0% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 1,526 shares of the bank’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 548 shares during the last quarter. MAI Capital Management increased its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 530.6% during the third quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 1,545 shares of the bank’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 1,300 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 38.7% during the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,743 shares of the bank’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 486 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smithfield Trust Co purchased a new stake in First Financial Bancorp. during the fourth quarter worth about $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on FFBC shares. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $34.00 target price on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a report on Monday, April 27th. Stephens started coverage on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a report on Friday, March 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $33.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a report on Monday. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, First Financial Bancorp. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $33.00.

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.