13,245 Shares in First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Acquired by Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 13,245 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $334,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in FFBC. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. during the 2nd quarter worth $300,000. Citigroup Inc. grew its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 25.2% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 166,170 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,192,000 after acquiring an additional 33,464 shares during the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in First Financial Bancorp. during the second quarter worth about $762,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. in the third quarter worth about $2,792,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 162.4% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 242,187 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,381,000 after acquiring an additional 149,896 shares during the last quarter. 77.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FFBC has been the subject of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Stephens upgraded First Financial Bancorp. from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Financial Bancorp.

In related news, insider Richard S. Dennen sold 4,068 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.01, for a total transaction of $122,080.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 70,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,120,266.52. This trade represents a 5.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Scott T. Crawley sold 3,000 shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.31, for a total value of $87,930.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 19,279 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $565,067.49. The trade was a 13.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,700 shares of company stock worth $335,429. Insiders own 2.04% of the company’s stock.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Performance

First Financial Bancorp. stock opened at $28.59 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $27.72 and a 200-day moving average of $25.44. The company has a market capitalization of $2.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.32 and a beta of 1.01. First Financial Bancorp. has a 1 year low of $20.59 and a 1 year high of $31.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $302.82 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 last year, the firm earned $0.67 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.53 earnings per share for the current year.

First Financial Bancorp. Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. First Financial Bancorp.’s payout ratio is presently 41.38%.

First Financial Bancorp. 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.