Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Grows Position in First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) by 73.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 153,281 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 64,745 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans owned 0.16% of First Financial Bancorp. worth $3,867,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,732,162 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $149,587,000 after purchasing an additional 60,612 shares during the last quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division lifted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 4.2% during the third quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division now owns 901,908 shares of the bank’s stock worth $22,755,000 after purchasing an additional 36,679 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 20,449 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 94.0% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 338,711 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,526,000 after buying an additional 164,105 shares during the period. Finally, Denali Advisors LLC raised its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 41.1% during the 2nd quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 302,700 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,726,000 after buying an additional 88,100 shares during the last quarter. 77.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at First Financial Bancorp.

In other news, insider Claude E. Davis sold 29,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.60, for a total transaction of $771,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 53,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,425,121.60. This represents a 35.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Scott T. Crawley sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.31, for a total transaction of $87,930.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,279 shares in the company, valued at approximately $565,067.49. This represents a 13.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 36,632 shares of company stock valued at $984,748. 2.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of FFBC opened at $29.86 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market cap of $2.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.87 and a beta of 0.99. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $26.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.70. First Financial Bancorp. has a 12 month low of $19.92 and a 12 month high of $30.11.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $302.82 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $214.00 million. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 18.55% and a return on equity of 10.32%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.67 EPS. Analysts predict that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Financial Bancorp. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.38%.

First Financial Bancorp. Company Profile

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.