Chartwell Investment Partners LLC reduced its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) by 4.1% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 467,925 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 20,025 shares during the period. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in First Financial Bancorp. were worth $12,962,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of FFBC. Bronfman E.L. Rothschild L.P. increased its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 2.8% in the first quarter. Bronfman E.L. Rothschild L.P. now owns 4,439 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $122,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the period. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. during the first quarter valued at approximately $139,000. Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 50.3% in the first quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,580 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $153,000 after buying an additional 1,867 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 16.6% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 6,492 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $178,000 after buying an additional 922 shares during the period. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 0.5% in the first quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 6,506 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $179,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.31% of the company’s stock.
Shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ FFBC) opened at 23.85 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $26.55 and a 200-day moving average of $27.05. First Financial Bancorp. has a 52-week low of $20.55 and a 52-week high of $29.80. The stock has a market cap of $1.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.79 and a beta of 1.18.
First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 25th. The bank reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.01. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 24.28% and a return on equity of 10.65%. The company had revenue of $85.97 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.52 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.36 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that First Financial Bancorp. will post $1.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 1st will be paid a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 30th. First Financial Bancorp.’s payout ratio is currently 45.03%.
Several brokerages recently commented on FFBC. Sandler O’Neill upgraded shares of First Financial Bancorp. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $28.00 to $29.00 in a research report on Friday, July 28th. BidaskClub upgraded shares of First Financial Bancorp. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 14th. Barclays PLC reduced their price target on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 27th. Piper Jaffray Companies set a $28.00 price target on shares of First Financial Bancorp. and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 25th. Finally, Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of First Financial Bancorp. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. First Financial Bancorp. has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $28.63.
In other news, insider C Douglas Lefferson sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.69, for a total value of $1,027,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 74,170 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,905,427.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.88% of the company’s stock.
About First Financial Bancorp.
First Financial Bancorp. (First Financial) is a regional bank holding company. First Financial is engaged in the business of commercial banking and other banking and banking-related activities through its subsidiary, First Financial Bank, National Association (the Bank). The range of banking services provided by First Financial to individuals and businesses include commercial lending, real estate lending and consumer financing.
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