Vanguard Group Inc. Trims Holdings in First Financial Bancorp. $FFBC

Vanguard Group Inc. decreased its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC - Free Report) by 1.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,720,103 shares of the bank's stock after selling 172,055 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 11.25% of First Financial Bancorp. worth $267,788,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of FFBC. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 43.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,522 shares of the bank's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 464 shares during the period. CWM LLC lifted its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 24.4% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,201 shares of the bank's stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 432 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 68.9% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,502 shares of the bank's stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 1,021 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. bought a new stake in First Financial Bancorp. during the first quarter valued at approximately $78,000. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 807.3% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 2,976 shares of the bank's stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 2,648 shares during the last quarter. 77.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FFBC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted 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 research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Stephens reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $29.00 target price on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $28.00 target price (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 report on Tuesday. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $31.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $27.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, First Financial Bancorp. presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $29.40.

First Financial Bancorp. Trading Up 3.9%

NASDAQ FFBC traded up $1.00 during trading on Friday, hitting $26.51. The company had a trading volume of 116,891 shares, compared to its average volume of 410,867. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. 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 $2.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.62 and a beta of 0.98. The company's fifty day moving average is $24.54 and its 200-day moving average is $24.73.

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

First Financial Bancorp. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. This is a boost from First Financial Bancorp.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. First Financial Bancorp.'s payout ratio is currently 40.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Financial Bancorp.

In other news, CEO Archie M. Brown sold 12,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.79, for a total value of $309,875.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 240,891 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,971,687.89. This represents a 4.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.