First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) CFO James Anderson Sells 4,000 Shares

Key Points

• CFO James Anderson sold 4,000 FFBC shares at an average price of $33.73, generating $134,920 and reducing his holdings by 3.37% to 114,537 shares.
• First Financial Bancorp. reported quarterly EPS of $0.80, beating estimates by $0.02, while revenue rose 16.7% year over year to $264.17 million. The stock was trading near $33.83, with a 52-week range of $23.06 to $36.24.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.26 per share, equivalent to an annualized $1.04 payout and a 3.1% yield. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $33.67.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC - Get Free Report) CFO James Anderson sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.73, for a total value of $134,920.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 114,537 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,863,333.01. This trade represents a 3.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

First Financial Bancorp. Price Performance

FFBC stock traded up $0.04 during trading on Friday, hitting $33.83. The company had a trading volume of 945,326 shares, compared to its average volume of 991,508. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $32.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.17. First Financial Bancorp. has a fifty-two week low of $23.06 and a fifty-two week high of $36.24. The company has a market cap of $3.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.95 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The bank reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $264.17 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $270.29 million. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 11.13% and a net margin of 20.77%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.74 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that First Financial Bancorp. will post 3.22 earnings per share 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is an increase from First Financial Bancorp.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. First Financial Bancorp.'s dividend payout ratio is 35.34%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Financial Bancorp.

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 137.6% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 991 shares of the bank's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 574 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Corp grew its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 56.0% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 1,526 shares of the bank's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 548 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 38.7% during the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,743 shares of the bank's stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 486 shares during the last quarter. Smithfield Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 14.2% in the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 3,309 shares of the bank's stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.23% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FFBC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded First Financial Bancorp. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Truist Financial increased their price target on First Financial Bancorp. from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on First Financial Bancorp. from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $33.67.

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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