Bank of America Corp DE Has $34.48 Million Stock Holdings in First Financial Bancorp. $FFBC

Key Points

• Bank of America increased its First Financial Bancorp. stake by 29.7% in the first quarter, owning 1.24 million shares worth approximately $34.5 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively hold 77.23% of FFBC.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $33.67, while FFBC recently traded at $34.38. The bank’s latest quarterly earnings of $0.80 per share exceeded estimates, and revenue rose 16.7% year over year.
• First Financial Bancorp. raised its quarterly dividend to $0.26 per share, equivalent to a 3.0% annual yield. Company insiders have sold 17,440 shares worth about $559,000 over the past 90 days.

Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC - Free Report) by 29.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,236,781 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 283,306 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE owned about 1.18% of First Financial Bancorp. worth $34,481,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of FFBC. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 137.6% during the 4th 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 boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 548 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 38.7% in the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,743 shares of the bank's stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 486 shares during the last quarter. Smithfield Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 3,309 shares of the bank's stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares during the period. 77.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on FFBC. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on First Financial Bancorp. from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on First Financial Bancorp. from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. 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 price target on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, First Financial Bancorp. presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $33.67.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Performance

Shares of FFBC stock opened at $34.38 on Friday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $33.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.73. First Financial Bancorp. has a 12 month low of $23.06 and a 12 month high of $36.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.15 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The bank reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.02. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 20.77% and a return on equity of 11.13%. The business had revenue of $264.17 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $270.29 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.74 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that First Financial Bancorp. will post 3.22 EPS for the current year.

First Financial Bancorp. Increases Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. 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 (DPR) is presently 35.34%.

Insider Transactions at First Financial Bancorp.

In other First Financial Bancorp. news, CFO James M. Anderson sold 4,000 shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.73, for a total transaction of $134,920.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 114,537 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,863,333.01. The trade was a 3.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Scott T. Crawley sold 2,700 shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.16, for a total value of $92,232.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 22,711 shares in the company, valued at $775,807.76. The trade was a 10.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 17,440 shares of company stock worth $559,318. Company 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.

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