SG Americas Securities LLC Makes New Investment in First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC)

SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 16,181 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $404,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 464 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 16.1% in the first quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 42,580 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,064,000 after purchasing an additional 5,905 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 22.9% in the first quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 21,204 shares of the bank's stock valued at $530,000 after purchasing an additional 3,953 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. in the first quarter valued at approximately $234,000. Finally, First Financial Bank Trust Division increased its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 2.8% in the first quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division now owns 893,713 shares of the bank's stock valued at $22,325,000 after purchasing an additional 24,690 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.23% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on FFBC. Truist Financial began coverage on First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $27.00 price target on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on First Financial Bancorp. from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on First Financial Bancorp. from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Up 2.2%

First Financial Bancorp. stock opened at $24.26 on Wednesday. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $23.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $25.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The company has a market cap of $2.32 billion, a PE ratio of 10.07 and a beta of 0.97. First Financial Bancorp. has a 1-year low of $21.10 and a 1-year high of $31.18.

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 for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63. The company 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 business'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 firm posted $0.59 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Financial Bancorp. Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. First Financial Bancorp.'s payout ratio is 39.83%.

About First Financial Bancorp.

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.

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