Trexquant Investment LP Decreases Stake in First Financial Bancorp. $FFBC

Key Points

• Trexquant Investment LP reduced its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 22.8% during the first quarter, now holding 86,705 shares, valued at approximately $2,166,000.
• First Financial Bancorp. recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, increasing from a previous dividend of $0.24, representing an annualized yield of 3.7%.
• After exceeding analysts' expectations with $0.74 earnings per share for the last quarter, First Financial Bancorp. has an average rating of "Hold" from research analysts, with a consensus price target of $29.40.

Trexquant Investment LP trimmed its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC - Free Report) by 22.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 86,705 shares of the bank's stock after selling 25,668 shares during the quarter. Trexquant Investment LP owned 0.09% of First Financial Bancorp. worth $2,166,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in FFBC. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. during the 1st quarter valued at about $16,615,000. Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 65.2% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 669,409 shares of the bank's stock valued at $17,994,000 after buying an additional 264,083 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 16.2% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,362,436 shares of the bank's stock valued at $36,622,000 after buying an additional 189,715 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. during the 4th quarter valued at about $4,253,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 16.9% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 567,572 shares of the bank's stock valued at $15,256,000 after buying an additional 82,025 shares in the last quarter. 77.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FFBC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $29.00 price objective on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $28.00 price objective (up from $27.00) on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Hovde Group initiated coverage on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $31.00 price objective on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of First Financial Bancorp. from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, July 20th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, First Financial Bancorp. currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $29.40.

Insider Activity at First Financial Bancorp.

In other First Financial Bancorp. news, Director Thomas Murray Obrien sold 7,383 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.54, for a total value of $195,944.82. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 46,480 shares in the company, valued at $1,233,579.20. This trade represents a 13.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Archie M. Brown sold 12,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.79, for a total transaction of $309,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 240,891 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,971,687.89. This trade represents a 4.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of NASDAQ FFBC traded down $0.48 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $25.87. 199,886 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 412,574. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $25.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.54. First Financial Bancorp. has a one year low of $21.10 and a one year high of $31.18. The company has a market cap of $2.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.34 and a beta of 1.02.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The bank reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $226.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $219.95 million. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 19.41% and a return on equity of 10.57%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Financial Bancorp. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. This is a positive change from First Financial Bancorp.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 2nd. First Financial Bancorp.'s payout ratio is 40.00%.

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.