First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Trading Down 5% - Time to Sell?

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded down 5% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $22.63 and last traded at $22.80. 60,036 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 439,534 shares. The stock had previously closed at $24.00.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on FFBC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on First Financial Bancorp. from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $33.00 price objective on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Monday.

First Financial Bancorp. Trading Down 1.2 %

The firm has a market cap of $2.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.65 and a beta of 0.85. The company's 50-day moving average price is $24.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The bank reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.63. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 10.52% and a net margin of 18.67%. The company had revenue of $201.59 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $214.80 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.59 EPS. First Financial Bancorp.'s revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Financial Bancorp. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.15%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. First Financial Bancorp.'s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.83%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider James R. Shank sold 7,600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.92, for a total value of $189,392.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,141 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $277,633.72. This trade represents a 40.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 2.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of First Financial Bancorp.

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 4.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 491,232 shares of the bank's stock valued at $12,394,000 after purchasing an additional 20,449 shares during the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. in the 4th quarter worth $273,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,892,158 shares of the bank's stock worth $292,781,000 after acquiring an additional 72,367 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,304,922 shares of the bank's stock valued at $35,076,000 after purchasing an additional 22,573 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 82.8% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 5,150 shares of the bank's stock valued at $138,000 after purchasing an additional 2,333 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.23% of the company's stock.

About First Financial Bancorp.

First Financial Bancorp. operates as the bank holding company for First Financial Bank that provides commercial banking and related services to individuals and businesses in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, and Illinois. The company offers checking, savings, and money-market accounts; and accepts various deposit products, such as interest-bearing and non-interest-bearing accounts, time deposits, and cash management services for commercial customers.