Squarepoint Ops LLC Sells 71,924 Shares of First Financial Bancorp. $FFBC

Squarepoint Ops LLC lessened its position in First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC - Free Report) by 24.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 220,863 shares of the bank's stock after selling 71,924 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC owned about 0.21% of First Financial Bancorp. worth $7,472,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 55.0% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 97,727 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,441,000 after purchasing an additional 34,676 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 4.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 56,205 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,404,000 after buying an additional 2,458 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 3.9% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 589,799 shares of the bank's stock worth $14,733,000 after buying an additional 22,227 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 571.4% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 7,412 shares of the bank's stock valued at $185,000 after acquiring an additional 6,308 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 6.0% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 318,298 shares of the bank's stock valued at $7,951,000 after acquiring an additional 17,911 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.23% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on FFBC. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research report on Friday, September 4th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on First Financial Bancorp. from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen lowered First Financial Bancorp. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Raymond James Financial increased their target price on First Financial Bancorp. from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $33.67.

First Financial Bancorp. Price Performance

Shares of FFBC stock opened at $32.53 on Friday. First Financial Bancorp. has a 1 year low of $23.06 and a 1 year high of $36.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm's 50 day moving average is $33.74 and its 200-day moving average is $31.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.49 and a beta of 0.91.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The bank reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.02. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 20.77% and a return on equity of 11.13%. The firm had revenue of $264.17 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $270.29 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.74 EPS. First Financial Bancorp.'s revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that First Financial Bancorp. will post 3.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Financial Bancorp. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This is an increase from First Financial Bancorp.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. First Financial Bancorp.'s payout ratio is 36.75%.

Insider Transactions at First Financial Bancorp.

In related news, Director Thomas O'Brien sold 16,088 shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.77, for a total value of $527,203.76. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 30,392 shares in the company, valued at $995,945.84. This trade represents a 34.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Archie M. Brown sold 5,000 shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.93, for a total value of $164,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 238,758 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,862,300.94. The trade was a 2.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 27,788 shares of company stock worth $919,006. Insiders own 1.08% of the company's stock.

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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