Western Standard LLC Takes Position in First Financial Bancorp. $FFBC

Western Standard LLC purchased a new stake in First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 75,000 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $1,876,000. First Financial Bancorp. accounts for about 0.9% of Western Standard LLC's holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Western Standard LLC owned about 0.08% of First Financial Bancorp. at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. CenterBook Partners LP purchased a new position in First Financial Bancorp. in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,504,000. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 47.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 559,488 shares of the bank's stock valued at $14,127,000 after purchasing an additional 180,575 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 174.7% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 72,244 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,808,000 after purchasing an additional 45,943 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 14.4% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 373,524 shares of the bank's stock valued at $9,431,000 after purchasing an additional 47,142 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maltese Capital Management LLC increased its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 171.4% in the 3rd quarter. Maltese Capital Management LLC now owns 142,500 shares of the bank's stock valued at $3,598,000 after purchasing an additional 90,000 shares in the last quarter. 77.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FFBC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Hovde Group raised their price objective on First Financial Bancorp. from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on First Financial Bancorp. from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on First Financial Bancorp. from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on First Financial Bancorp. from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised First Financial Bancorp. from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. 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.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $33.00.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Performance

First Financial Bancorp. stock opened at $30.43 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $28.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.05. The company has a market capitalization of $3.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.75 and a beta of 0.94. First Financial Bancorp. has a fifty-two week low of $22.93 and a fifty-two week high of $31.38.

First Financial Bancorp. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. First Financial Bancorp.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO James M. Anderson sold 4,263 shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 118,537 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,556,110. The trade was a 3.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Karen B. Woods sold 10,000 shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,936,527.12. This represents a 13.52% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 40,706 shares of company stock valued at $1,235,172. Corporate insiders own 1.13% of the company's stock.

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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