First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Insider Richard S. Dennen Sells 10,500 Shares

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) insider Richard S. Dennen sold 10,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.64, for a total transaction of $248,220.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 93,152 shares in the company, valued at $2,202,113.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Performance

First Financial Bancorp. stock traded down $0.08 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $23.65. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 49,450 shares, compared to its average volume of 319,670. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The company has a market cap of $2.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.57 and a beta of 1.04. First Financial Bancorp. has a 1-year low of $17.23 and a 1-year high of $24.99. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $22.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $22.03.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The bank reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.59. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 11.22% and a net margin of 20.74%. The business had revenue of $287.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $201.79 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.76 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.34 earnings per share for the current year.

First Financial Bancorp. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 3rd will be issued a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 3rd. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.10%.

Institutional Trading of First Financial Bancorp.

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,939,804 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $259,820,000 after acquiring an additional 91,126 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,625,010 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $157,347,000 after purchasing an additional 155,097 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,163,204 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $27,626,000 after purchasing an additional 56,755 shares during the last quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division raised its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 17.8% during the 1st quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division now owns 1,038,758 shares of the bank’s stock worth $23,289,000 after buying an additional 157,190 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in First Financial Bancorp. in the fourth quarter valued at about $15,348,000. Institutional investors own 77.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on FFBC shares. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $26.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $24.00 price target on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a report on Tuesday, April 9th.

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.