CenterBook Partners LP Purchases 25,257 Shares of First Financial Bancorp. $FFBC

CenterBook Partners LP lifted its stake in First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) by 42.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 84,821 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 25,257 shares during the quarter. CenterBook Partners LP owned approximately 0.09% of First Financial Bancorp. worth $2,122,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 67.2% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 907,478 shares of the bank’s stock worth $22,705,000 after buying an additional 364,597 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. in the first quarter valued at about $5,714,000. Gator Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. during the 3rd quarter worth about $5,603,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,929,185 shares of the bank’s stock worth $273,448,000 after buying an additional 215,357 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lifted its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 47.7% during the 3rd quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 559,488 shares of the bank’s stock worth $14,127,000 after buying an additional 180,575 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.23% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other First Financial Bancorp. news, CFO James M. Anderson sold 4,263 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total transaction of $127,890.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 118,537 shares in the company, valued at $3,556,110. This represents a 3.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Claude E. Davis sold 26,123 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.45, for a total value of $795,445.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 30,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $925,984.50. The trade was a 46.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 41,126 shares of company stock worth $1,255,501 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FFBC has been the subject of several research reports. Wall Street Zen raised First Financial Bancorp. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $34.00 price target on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Stephens assumed coverage on First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Friday, March 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $33.00 price target for the company. Truist Financial boosted their price target on First Financial Bancorp. from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on First Financial Bancorp. from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, First Financial Bancorp. presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.00.

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Up 1.8%

NASDAQ FFBC opened at $31.38 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $29.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $28.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84. First Financial Bancorp. has a fifty-two week low of $22.93 and a fifty-two week high of $31.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.29 billion, a PE ratio of 11.09 and a beta of 0.93.

First Financial Bancorp. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.34%.

About First Financial Bancorp.

First Financial Bancorp (NASDAQ: FFBC) is a bank holding company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the parent of First Financial Bank. The company provides a comprehensive suite of commercial and consumer banking services through a network of more than 100 full-service banking centers and mortgage offices across Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky. Its core mission centers on delivering personalized relationship banking to businesses, individuals and public sector clients.

First Financial Bank’s product portfolio includes deposit solutions such as checking, savings and money market accounts, alongside a range of lending offerings that cover commercial and industrial loans, real estate and construction financing, home mortgages and home equity lines of credit.