First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Position Raised by Bogart Wealth LLC

Bogart Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) by 2,976.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,000 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,935 shares during the quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC’s holdings in First Financial Bancorp. were worth $50,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 23.9% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 305,942 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,917,000 after acquiring an additional 58,963 shares during the period. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 115.9% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 58,070 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,264,000 after purchasing an additional 31,170 shares during the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. in the 1st quarter worth approximately $752,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 76.6% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 46,793 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,049,000 after purchasing an additional 20,299 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Denali Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 37.6% during the first quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 214,600 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,811,000 after buying an additional 58,600 shares in the last quarter. 77.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Claude E. Davis sold 29,000 shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.60, for a total transaction of $771,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 53,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,425,121.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on FFBC shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on First Financial Bancorp. from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on First Financial Bancorp. from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th.

First Financial Bancorp. Trading Down 0.2 %

First Financial Bancorp. stock opened at $25.43 on Friday. First Financial Bancorp. has a 52 week low of $17.23 and a 52 week high of $28.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.25 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $25.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.84.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The bank reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $314.22 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $203.50 million. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 10.69% and a net margin of 19.67%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.72 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.58 EPS for the current year.

First Financial Bancorp. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.78%. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio is 38.71%.

About First Financial Bancorp.

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.