First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Lowered to Hold Rating by Wall Street Zen

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on FFBC. Stephens started coverage on First Financial Bancorp. in a report on Friday, March 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $33.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a report on Monday, June 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $34.00 price target on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.00.

First Financial Bancorp. Trading Up 0.4%

FFBC opened at $33.90 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.56 billion, a PE ratio of 11.98 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The business has a 50 day moving average of $30.88 and a 200-day moving average of $28.81. First Financial Bancorp. has a 52 week low of $23.06 and a 52 week high of $33.98.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Claude E. Davis sold 26,123 shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Archie M. Brown sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.93, for a total transaction of $309,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 243,758 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,539,434.94. The trade was a 3.94% decrease in their position. 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. 1.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Financial Bancorp.

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FFBC. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 29.7% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,236,781 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $34,481,000 after purchasing an additional 283,306 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 8.0% during the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 333,019 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,285,000 after purchasing an additional 24,654 shares in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 91.3% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 27,466 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $766,000 after buying an additional 13,111 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 38.1% during the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 124,914 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,483,000 after buying an additional 34,441 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in First Financial Bancorp. by 44.6% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 137,364 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,830,000 after buying an additional 42,368 shares in the last quarter. 77.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

First Financial Bancorp. Company Profile

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.