California State Teachers Retirement System Raises Stock Position in First Financial Bancorp. $FFBC

California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) by 38.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 124,914 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 34,441 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in First Financial Bancorp. were worth $3,483,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in FFBC. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 137.6% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 991 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 574 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Corp grew its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 56.0% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 1,526 shares of the bank’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 548 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 38.7% during the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,743 shares of the bank’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 486 shares during the last quarter. Smithfield Trust Co bought a new stake in First Financial Bancorp. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $50,000. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 3,309 shares of the bank’s stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 412 shares during the last quarter. 77.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ FFBC opened at $33.66 on Friday. First Financial Bancorp. has a 1 year low of $23.06 and a 1 year high of $36.24. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.48. The company has a market cap of $3.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.89 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The bank reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.02. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 11.13% and a net margin of 20.77%.The business had revenue of $264.17 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $270.29 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.74 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that First Financial Bancorp. will post 3.22 earnings per share for the current year.

First Financial Bancorp. Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. This is an increase from First Financial Bancorp.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. First Financial Bancorp.’s payout ratio is currently 35.34%.

Insider Transactions at First Financial Bancorp.

In other news, insider Scott T. Crawley sold 2,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.16, for a total transaction of $92,232.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 22,711 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $775,807.76. This trade represents a 10.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Archie M. Brown sold 10,000 shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.93, for a total value of $309,300.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 243,758 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,539,434.94. This trade represents a 3.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 17,440 shares of company stock valued at $559,318. 1.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FFBC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on First Financial Bancorp. from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Raymond James Financial boosted their target price on First Financial Bancorp. from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered First Financial Bancorp. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on First Financial Bancorp. from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $33.67.

First Financial Bancorp. Company Profile

First Financial Bancorp (NASDAQ: FFBC) is a bank holding company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the parent of First Financial Bank. The company provides a comprehensive suite of commercial and consumer banking services through a network of more than 100 full-service banking centers and mortgage offices across Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky. Its core mission centers on delivering personalized relationship banking to businesses, individuals and public sector clients.

First Financial Bank’s product portfolio includes deposit solutions such as checking, savings and money market accounts, alongside a range of lending offerings that cover commercial and industrial loans, real estate and construction financing, home mortgages and home equity lines of credit.