Martingale Asset Management L P Buys 11,322 Shares of First Financial Bancorp. $FFBC

Key Points

• Martingale Asset Management L P increased its stake in First Financial Bancorp by 56.3%, owning a total of 31,447 shares valued at $786,000 by the end of the first quarter.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.25, which shows a positive change from the previous dividend of $0.24 and represents a 3.8% annualized yield.
• First Financial Bancorp reported $0.74 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding estimates, and had a market capitalization of $2.54 billion.

Martingale Asset Management L P boosted its position in First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC - Free Report) by 56.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 31,447 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 11,322 shares during the quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P's holdings in First Financial Bancorp. were worth $786,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 43.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,522 shares of the bank's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 464 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 24.4% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,201 shares of the bank's stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 432 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 68.9% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,502 shares of the bank's stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 1,021 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. acquired a new position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. during the 1st quarter worth approximately $78,000. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 36.5% during the 1st quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 3,570 shares of the bank's stock worth $89,000 after purchasing an additional 954 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.23% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on FFBC shares. Truist Financial started coverage on First Financial Bancorp. in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. They set a "hold" rating and a $27.00 price target on the stock. Hovde Group started coverage on First Financial Bancorp. in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $31.00 price target on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on 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. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $28.00 price target (up previously from $27.00) on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded First Financial Bancorp. from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, July 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $29.40.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Performance

FFBC traded down $0.26 during trading on Thursday, hitting $26.53. The stock had a trading volume of 382,884 shares, compared to its average volume of 415,833. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $24.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $24.68. The firm has a market cap of $2.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.61 and a beta of 0.98. First Financial Bancorp. has a one year low of $21.10 and a one year high of $31.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The bank reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $226.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $219.95 million. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 10.57% and a net margin of 19.41%.During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.64 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.64 EPS for the current year.

First Financial Bancorp. Increases Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 2nd. This is a positive change from First Financial Bancorp.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. First Financial Bancorp.'s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Archie M. Brown sold 12,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The stock was 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 directly owned 240,891 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,971,687.89. This represents a 4.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas Murray Obrien sold 7,383 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director owned 46,480 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,233,579.20. The trade was a 13.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 20,670 shares of company stock valued at $524,826. Corporate insiders own 1.13% of the company's stock.

First Financial Bancorp. Company 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.