First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Stock Holdings Lowered by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. trimmed its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) by 13.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,265,773 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 529,189 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 3.42% of First Financial Bancorp. worth $82,395,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FFBC. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,732,162 shares of the bank’s stock worth $149,587,000 after acquiring an additional 60,612 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,643,440 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $117,154,000 after purchasing an additional 39,655 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,271,990 shares of the bank’s stock worth $57,333,000 after purchasing an additional 34,977 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,282,349 shares of the bank’s stock worth $32,354,000 after buying an additional 23,472 shares during the period. Finally, First Financial Bank Trust Division lifted its stake in 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 valued at $22,755,000 after buying an additional 36,679 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at First Financial Bancorp.

In other First Financial Bancorp. news, insider James R. Shank sold 3,700 shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.34, for a total value of $97,458.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,374 shares in the company, valued at $404,951.16. The trade was a 19.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Scott T. Crawley sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.31, for a total transaction of $87,930.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 19,279 shares in the company, valued at approximately $565,067.49. This trade represents a 13.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 11,700 shares of company stock valued at $335,429. 2.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stephens raised shares of First Financial Bancorp. from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Performance

FFBC stock opened at $26.46 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $28.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.87. First Financial Bancorp. has a 52 week low of $20.59 and a 52 week high of $31.18. The stock has a market cap of $2.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.41 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.01. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 18.55% and a return on equity of 10.32%. The business had revenue of $302.82 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $214.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.67 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Financial Bancorp. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.63%. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio is 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.