International Assets Investment Management LLC Buys Shares of 37,420 First Financial Bancorp. $FFBC

Key Points

• International Assets Investment Management disclosed a new fourth-quarter stake in First Financial Bancorp., buying 37,420 shares valued at about $936,000.
• Several insiders sold shares recently, including CAO Karen B. Woods and insider Claude E. Davis; insiders have sold 40,706 shares worth about $1.24 million over the last 90 days.
• Analysts are generally constructive on FFBC, with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $33; the stock also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, implying a 3.3% yield.

International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 37,420 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $936,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Horizon Corp bought a new position in First Financial Bancorp. in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Bogart Wealth LLC bought a new position in First Financial Bancorp. in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. MAI Capital Management raised its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 530.6% in the third quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 1,545 shares of the bank's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 2,741.3% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,790 shares of the bank's stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 1,727 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 19.4% in the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,903 shares of the bank's stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 472 shares during the last quarter. 77.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Karen B. Woods sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.28, for a total transaction of $302,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 63,954 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,936,527.12. This trade represents a 13.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Claude E. Davis sold 26,123 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.45, for a total value of $795,445.35. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 30,410 shares of the company's stock, valued at $925,984.50. This represents a 46.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 40,706 shares of company stock valued at $1,235,172 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FFBC has been the subject of several research reports. Truist Financial increased their target price on First Financial Bancorp. from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on First Financial Bancorp. from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and set a $34.00 price objective on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Stephens assumed coverage on First Financial Bancorp. in a research report on Friday, March 27th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $33.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded First Financial Bancorp. from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $33.00.

First Financial Bancorp. Price Performance

Shares of FFBC opened at $30.60 on Friday. First Financial Bancorp. has a 1 year low of $22.93 and a 1 year high of $31.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The company has a market capitalization of $3.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.81 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a 50-day moving average of $28.50 and a 200-day moving average of $27.05.

First Financial Bancorp. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. First Financial Bancorp.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.34%.

About First Financial Bancorp.

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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