Edgestream Partners L.P. Has $9.29 Million Stock Holdings in First Financial Bancorp. $FFBC

Edgestream Partners L.P. boosted its position in First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) by 8.0% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 333,019 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 24,654 shares during the quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P.’s holdings in First Financial Bancorp. were worth $9,285,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in FFBC. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 55.0% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 97,727 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,441,000 after purchasing an additional 34,676 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 4.6% in 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 purchasing an additional 2,458 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 589,799 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $14,733,000 after purchasing 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% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 7,412 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $185,000 after purchasing an additional 6,308 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position 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 buying an additional 17,911 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 77.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Financial Bancorp.

In other news, insider Claude E. Davis sold 26,123 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 30,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $925,984.50. This represents a 46.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Archie M. Brown sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.93, for a total transaction of $309,300.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 243,758 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,539,434.94. The trade was a 3.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 36,863 shares of company stock valued at $1,127,611 in the last three months. 1.08% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of First Financial Bancorp. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Raymond James Financial upped their target price on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $33.67.

First Financial Bancorp. Trading Up 0.1%

NASDAQ:FFBC opened at $33.82 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $32.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.12. First Financial Bancorp. has a fifty-two week low of $23.06 and a fifty-two week high of $36.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.55 billion, a PE ratio of 11.95 and a beta of 0.92.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The bank reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $264.17 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $270.29 million. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 11.13% and a net margin of 20.77%.First Financial Bancorp.’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.74 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that First Financial Bancorp. will post 3.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Financial Bancorp. Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. This is a boost from First Financial Bancorp.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.34%.

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.