Royce & Associates LP Increases Position in First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC)

Royce & Associates LP boosted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) by 26.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 101,922 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,069 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in First Financial Bancorp. were worth $2,740,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 34,977 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,304,922 shares of the bank’s stock worth $35,076,000 after acquiring an additional 22,573 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 17.6% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 849,678 shares of the bank’s stock worth $22,839,000 after acquiring an additional 126,996 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 511,868 shares of the bank’s stock worth $13,759,000 after acquiring an additional 20,636 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on FFBC shares. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $33.00 price objective on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a report on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $30.00 target price on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Monday, January 27th.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FFBC opened at $24.75 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.31 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $27.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.88. 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. has a fifty-two week low of $20.59 and a fifty-two week high of $31.18.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.06. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 18.67% and a return on equity of 10.52%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

First Financial Bancorp. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider James R. Shank sold 7,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.92, for a total transaction of $189,392.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $277,633.72. This represents a 40.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.04% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.