Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $13.12 Million Stock Position in First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC - Free Report) by 2.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 525,209 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 13,341 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.55% of First Financial Bancorp. worth $13,120,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 43.9% during 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. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,892,158 shares of the bank's stock valued at $292,781,000 after acquiring an additional 72,367 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 1.8% during 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 acquiring an additional 22,573 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 53,747 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,445,000 after acquiring an additional 2,070 shares during the period. Finally, First Financial Bank Trust Division lifted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 2.8% during the first quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division now owns 893,713 shares of the bank's stock valued at $22,325,000 after acquiring an additional 24,690 shares during the period. 77.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

First Financial Bancorp. Price Performance

Shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock traded up $0.05 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $24.80. The company's stock had a trading volume of 338,077 shares, compared to its average volume of 417,714. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $24.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.23. 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 one year low of $21.10 and a one year high of $31.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.29 and a beta of 0.96.

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

First Financial Bancorp. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd were given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.87%. First Financial Bancorp.'s payout ratio is 39.83%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.