45,900 Shares in First Financial Bancorp. $FFBC Acquired by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 45,900 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $1,280,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 55.0% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 97,727 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,441,000 after buying an additional 34,676 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 56,205 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,404,000 after acquiring an additional 2,458 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 589,799 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $14,733,000 after acquiring an additional 22,227 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 571.4% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 7,412 shares of the bank’s stock worth $185,000 after acquiring an additional 6,308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 318,298 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,951,000 after acquiring an additional 17,911 shares in the last quarter. 77.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Performance

NASDAQ FFBC opened at $34.39 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $31.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $29.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84. First Financial Bancorp. has a twelve month low of $23.06 and a twelve month high of $35.00. The stock has a market cap of $3.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.15 and a beta of 0.92.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $265.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $257.97 million. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 11.09% and a net margin of 20.92%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.63 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that First Financial Bancorp. will post 3.25 EPS for the current year.

First Financial Bancorp. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. First Financial Bancorp.’s payout ratio is presently 35.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on FFBC. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on First Financial Bancorp. from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Raymond James Financial increased their price target on First Financial Bancorp. from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded First Financial Bancorp. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Four research 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 $33.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other First Financial Bancorp. news, CFO James M. Anderson sold 4,263 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total transaction of $127,890.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 118,537 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,556,110. This trade represents a 3.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Claude E. Davis sold 26,123 shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.45, for a total value of $795,445.35. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 30,410 shares in the company, valued at approximately $925,984.50. This trade represents a 46.21% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 41,126 shares of company stock valued at $1,255,501. Corporate insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

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.