SG Americas Securities LLC Sells 49,700 Shares of First Financial Bancorp. $FFBC

Key Points

• SG Americas Securities LLC cut its First Financial Bancorp. stake by 68.8% in the first quarter, selling 49,700 shares and leaving it with 22,544 shares valued at about $629,000.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed but constructive, with the stock carrying a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $33.33; recent targets ranged from $32 to $36.
• First Financial Bancorp. reported solid quarterly results, with EPS of $0.77 topping estimates, and it paid a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, implying an annual yield of about 2.9%.

SG Americas Securities LLC lessened its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC - Free Report) by 68.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 22,544 shares of the bank's stock after selling 49,700 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC's holdings in First Financial Bancorp. were worth $629,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of FFBC. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,929,185 shares of the bank's stock valued at $273,448,000 after buying an additional 215,357 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,243,149 shares of the bank's stock worth $156,205,000 after acquiring an additional 30,043 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,851,427 shares of the bank's stock worth $121,383,000 after acquiring an additional 354,833 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,374,365 shares of the bank's stock worth $59,415,000 after acquiring an additional 22,389 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,309,205 shares of the bank's stock worth $32,756,000 after acquiring an additional 42,116 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.23% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on FFBC. Stephens began coverage on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a report on Friday, March 27th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $33.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Raymond James Financial upped their price target on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded First Financial Bancorp. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $33.33.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Performance

Shares of FFBC stock opened at $34.31 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.60 billion, a PE ratio of 12.12 and a beta of 0.92. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $31.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84. First Financial Bancorp. has a one year low of $23.06 and a one year high of $35.00.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.07. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 20.92% and a return on equity of 11.09%. The firm had revenue of $265.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $257.97 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.63 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that First Financial Bancorp. will post 3.25 earnings per share for the current year.

First Financial Bancorp. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. First Financial Bancorp.'s dividend payout ratio is 35.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Financial Bancorp.

In other First Financial Bancorp. news, insider Claude E. Davis sold 26,123 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.45, for a total transaction of $795,445.35. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 30,410 shares in the company, valued at approximately $925,984.50. This trade represents a 46.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO James M. Anderson sold 4,263 shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total value of $127,890.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 118,537 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,556,110. This trade represents a 3.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 41,126 shares of company stock valued at $1,255,501. 1.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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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