MQS Management LLC Takes $543,000 Position in First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC)

MQS Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 21,729 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $543,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,892,158 shares of the bank's stock valued at $292,781,000 after purchasing an additional 72,367 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 16.2% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,362,436 shares of the bank's stock valued at $36,622,000 after purchasing an additional 189,715 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,304,922 shares of the bank's stock valued at $35,076,000 after purchasing an additional 22,573 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 38.3% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,186,286 shares of the bank's stock valued at $31,887,000 after purchasing an additional 328,788 shares during the period. Finally, First Financial Bank Trust Division grew its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 2.8% in the first quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division now owns 893,713 shares of the bank's stock valued at $22,325,000 after purchasing an additional 24,690 shares during the period. 77.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FFBC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of First Financial Bancorp. from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $27.00 target price on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Stephens reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $29.00 price objective on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Truist Financial started coverage on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. They set a "hold" rating and a $27.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $28.75.

First Financial Bancorp. Trading Down 1.1%

FFBC traded down $0.29 during trading on Friday, hitting $25.45. 280,776 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 419,768. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. First Financial Bancorp. has a 1 year low of $21.10 and a 1 year high of $31.18. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $24.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.26. The firm has a market cap of $2.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.56 and a beta of 0.96.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The bank reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.63. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 18.65% and a return on equity of 10.44%. The company had revenue of $201.59 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $214.80 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.59 earnings per share. First Financial Bancorp.'s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Financial Bancorp. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.77%. First Financial Bancorp.'s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.83%.

First Financial Bancorp. Profile

First Financial Bancorp. operates as the bank holding company for First Financial Bank that provides commercial banking and related services to individuals and businesses in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, and Illinois. The company offers checking, savings, and money-market accounts; and accepts various deposit products, such as interest-bearing and non-interest-bearing accounts, time deposits, and cash management services for commercial customers.