Quest Partners LLC Reduces Stake in First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC)

Quest Partners LLC reduced its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) by 18.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 60,756 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 13,610 shares during the quarter. Quest Partners LLC’s holdings in First Financial Bancorp. were worth $1,533,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 115.9% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 58,070 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,264,000 after buying an additional 31,170 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. in the second quarter valued at $300,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 675 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 10.1% in the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 33,425 shares of the bank’s stock worth $743,000 after acquiring an additional 3,067 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AE Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. during the 2nd quarter worth about $762,000. 77.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at First Financial Bancorp.

In other news, insider Richard S. Dennen sold 932 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total transaction of $27,960.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 74,720 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,241,600. This trade represents a 1.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Scott T. Crawley sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.31, for a total transaction of $87,930.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,279 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $565,067.49. This trade represents a 13.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 36,632 shares of company stock valued at $984,748. 2.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FFBC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of 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 raised 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 0.4 %

FFBC stock opened at $28.79 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.75 billion, a PE ratio of 12.41 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. First Financial Bancorp. has a 12 month low of $19.92 and a 12 month high of $30.11. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $25.96 and its 200 day moving average is $24.57.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $214.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.67 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.53 EPS for the current year.

First Financial Bancorp. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio is 41.38%.

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.