Fisher Asset Management LLC Trims Stake in First Financial Bancorp. $FFBC

Fisher Asset Management LLC lowered its position in First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 770,599 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 20,508 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in First Financial Bancorp. were worth $18,695,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 13.5% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 10,413 shares of the bank’s stock worth $260,000 after purchasing an additional 1,237 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 43.8% during the 1st quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 36,408 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $909,000 after buying an additional 11,098 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC grew its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 69,414 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,734,000 after buying an additional 1,516 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. bought a new position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. in the 1st quarter worth about $78,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 10,923 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $273,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on FFBC. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Zacks Research cut First Financial Bancorp. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $28.00 price objective (down previously from $30.00) on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Weiss Ratings upgraded First Financial Bancorp. from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Hovde Group assumed coverage on First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Monday, October 6th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, First Financial Bancorp. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.50.

First Financial Bancorp. Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FFBC opened at $25.58 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $24.56 and a 200 day moving average of $24.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. First Financial Bancorp. has a twelve month low of $21.10 and a twelve month high of $30.36. The firm has a market cap of $2.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.47 and a beta of 1.00.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The bank reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 10.72% and a net margin of 20.64%.The business had revenue of $234.01 million during the quarter. As a group, research analysts expect that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Financial Bancorp. Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 1st. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.04%.

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.