State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Lowers Holdings in First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D trimmed its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) by 32.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 86,767 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 41,540 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D owned about 0.09% of First Financial Bancorp. worth $1,928,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $15,348,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 2,655.1% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 518,061 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $12,360,000 after purchasing an additional 499,257 shares during the last quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 6,820.5% in the 4th quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,045 shares of the bank’s stock worth $72,000 after purchasing an additional 3,001 shares in the last quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. in the fourth quarter worth $652,000. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 60.0% during the fourth quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 73,270 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,740,000 after purchasing an additional 27,479 shares in the last quarter. 77.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Performance

FFBC stock opened at $25.45 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. First Financial Bancorp. has a 1 year low of $17.23 and a 1 year high of $28.25. The company has a market cap of $2.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.26 and a beta of 0.99. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $25.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.30.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The bank reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.05. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 10.69% and a net margin of 19.67%. The business had revenue of $314.22 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $203.50 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.72 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.58 earnings per share for the current year.

First Financial Bancorp. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This is a boost from First Financial Bancorp.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.77%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Financial Bancorp.

In other news, insider Claude E. Davis sold 29,000 shares of the business’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 approximately $1,425,121.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.