Souders Financial Advisors Buys 617 Shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC)

Souders Financial Advisors raised its stake in First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) by 0.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 72,038 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 617 shares during the quarter. Souders Financial Advisors owned about 0.08% of First Financial Bancorp. worth $1,818,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Financial Management Professionals Inc. bought a new position in First Financial Bancorp. in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 63.9% in the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 1,732 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 675 shares during the last quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 2,976.9% in the third quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 2,000 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 1,935 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 23.1% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,340 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 627 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. in the second quarter valued at approximately $77,000. Institutional investors own 77.23% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Claude E. Davis sold 29,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The shares were 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 $1,425,121.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other First Financial Bancorp. news, insider Claude E. Davis sold 29,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 53,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,425,121.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Scott T. Crawley sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.31, for a total value of $87,930.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,279 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $565,067.49. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 35,700 shares of company stock valued at $956,788. 2.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

First Financial Bancorp. Trading Down 1.0 %

FFBC stock opened at $29.35 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $25.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $24.35. First Financial Bancorp. has a one year low of $19.00 and a one year high of $30.11. The stock has a market cap of $2.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.65 and a beta of 0.99.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.01. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 18.55% and a return on equity of 10.32%. The firm had revenue of $302.82 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $214.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.67 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.53 EPS for the current year.

First Financial Bancorp. Announces Dividend

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 given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.27%. First Financial Bancorp.’s payout ratio is presently 41.38%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on FFBC. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $25.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th.

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.