Insider Selling: First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Insider Sells $189,392.00 in Stock

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) insider James R. Shank sold 7,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.92, for a total value of $189,392.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $277,633.72. The trade was a 40.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

First Financial Bancorp. Price Performance

Shares of FFBC stock opened at $24.75 on Friday. First Financial Bancorp. has a 1-year low of $20.59 and a 1-year high of $31.18. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $26.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $26.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The company has a market cap of $2.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.31 and a beta of 0.99.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.06. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 10.52% and a net margin of 18.67%. On average, research analysts expect that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Financial Bancorp. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.88%. First Financial Bancorp.’s payout ratio is presently 40.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on FFBC shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on First Financial Bancorp. from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $33.00 target price on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Friday, January 24th.

Institutional Trading of First Financial Bancorp.

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,892,158 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $292,781,000 after purchasing an additional 72,367 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,643,440 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $117,154,000 after purchasing an additional 39,655 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,271,990 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $57,333,000 after purchasing an additional 34,977 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 16.2% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,362,436 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $36,622,000 after purchasing an additional 189,715 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,304,922 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $35,076,000 after purchasing an additional 22,573 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.23% of the company’s stock.

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.