Richard S. Dennen Sells 4,068 Shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Stock

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) insider Richard S. Dennen sold 4,068 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.01, for a total transaction of $122,080.68. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 70,652 shares in the company, valued at $2,120,266.52. The trade was a 5.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

First Financial Bancorp. Price Performance

FFBC stock traded up $0.77 during trading on Monday, reaching $30.63. 104,285 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 373,877. The company has a market cap of $2.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.87 and a beta of 0.99. First Financial Bancorp. has a 52-week low of $19.92 and a 52-week high of $31.18. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $26.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $24.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91.

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. The firm had revenue of $302.82 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $214.00 million. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 18.55% and a return on equity of 10.32%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.67 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Financial Bancorp. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. First Financial Bancorp.’s payout ratio is currently 41.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FFBC has been the topic of several research 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 report on Monday, July 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price 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.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Financial Bancorp.

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FFBC. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 4.4% during the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 99,222 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,223,000 after acquiring an additional 4,157 shares during the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC raised its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 63.9% during the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 1,732 shares of the bank’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 675 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 4.6% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 75,665 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,697,000 after buying an additional 3,332 shares during the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp raised its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 17.1% in the first quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 25,937 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $582,000 after buying an additional 3,794 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Comerica Bank raised its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 11.4% in the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 63,335 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,420,000 after buying an additional 6,460 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.23% of the company’s stock.

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.