Raymond James Financial Inc. Takes Position in First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 333,405 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $8,961,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 4.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 491,232 shares of the bank’s stock worth $12,394,000 after purchasing an additional 20,449 shares during the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in First Financial Bancorp. during the fourth quarter worth $273,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 1.6% during the third 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 during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. boosted its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 25.2% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 166,170 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,192,000 after purchasing an additional 33,464 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new position in First Financial Bancorp. during the third quarter worth $2,792,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FFBC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $33.00 target price on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a report on Friday, January 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price 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 price target on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research report on Monday, January 27th.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider James R. Shank sold 7,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.92, for a total value of $189,392.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 2.04% of the company’s stock.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Performance

NASDAQ FFBC opened at $24.75 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $26.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.87. First Financial Bancorp. has a 1 year low of $20.59 and a 1 year high of $31.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.31 and a beta of 0.99.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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, research analysts anticipate that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.64 EPS for the current year.

First Financial Bancorp. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.00%.

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.