Tudor Investment Corp ET AL Decreases Stake in First Financial Bancorp. $FFBC

Key Points

• Tudor Investment Corp. reduced its stake in First Financial Bancorp by 38.6% in Q3, selling 92,518 shares and finishing the quarter with 147,366 shares valued at $3.72M, while institutional investors own 77.23% of the company.
• Insiders have been net sellers, disposing of 32,141 shares worth $969,429 in the past three months (including CAO Karen B. Woods' 10,000‑share sale), leaving insiders with 1.13% ownership.
• First Financial slightly beat quarterly estimates with EPS $0.80 vs. $0.78 and revenue $251.3M, pays a $0.25 quarterly dividend (3.6% yield), and holds an average analyst rating of "Moderate Buy" with a $30.50 price target.

Tudor Investment Corp ET AL lessened its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC - Free Report) by 38.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 147,366 shares of the bank's stock after selling 92,518 shares during the quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL owned 0.15% of First Financial Bancorp. worth $3,721,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bogart Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. First Horizon Corp bought a new stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. in the third quarter worth $25,000. MAI Capital Management increased its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 530.6% in the third quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 1,545 shares of the bank's stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 1,300 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 1,727 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Consulate Inc. bought a new position in First Financial Bancorp. during the 3rd quarter valued at $47,000. 77.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FFBC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Hovde Group upped their target price on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings upgraded First Financial Bancorp. from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on First Financial Bancorp. from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on First Financial Bancorp. from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $30.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Gregory A. Harris sold 1,821 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.43, for a total transaction of $53,592.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 42,431 shares in the company, valued at $1,248,744.33. This represents a 4.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Karen B. Woods sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.28, for a total value of $302,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 63,954 shares in the company, valued at $1,936,527.12. This represents a 13.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 32,141 shares of company stock worth $969,429 in the last three months. 1.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

First Financial Bancorp. Trading Up 0.2%

First Financial Bancorp. stock opened at $27.70 on Friday. First Financial Bancorp. has a 1 year low of $21.10 and a 1 year high of $31.38. The firm's 50-day moving average is $28.34 and its 200-day moving average is $26.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89. The company has a market cap of $2.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.41 and a beta of 0.97.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.02. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 20.30% and a return on equity of 10.77%. The business had revenue of $251.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $249.00 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.71 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

First Financial Bancorp. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. First Financial Bancorp.'s payout ratio is currently 37.59%.

First Financial Bancorp. Company Profile

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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