642,964 Shares in First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Bought by Fisher Asset Management LLC

Posted by Defense World Staff on Apr 25th, 2023

Fisher Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC – Get Rating) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 642,964 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $15,579,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC owned 0.68% of First Financial Bancorp. at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in FFBC. First Financial Bank Trust Division lifted its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 32.2% during the fourth quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division now owns 1,001,303 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $24,262,000 after buying an additional 243,860 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 2.5% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,152,542 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $129,698,000 after buying an additional 151,646 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 1.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,495,128 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $241,913,000 after buying an additional 147,057 shares during the period. Macquarie Group Ltd. lifted its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 2.1% during the second quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 6,179,741 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $119,889,000 after buying an additional 125,325 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 20.1% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 721,222 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $15,203,000 after buying an additional 120,596 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com assumed coverage on First Financial Bancorp. in a report on Thursday, March 16th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on First Financial Bancorp. from $26.00 to $23.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 6th. Finally, Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $24.00 price target on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a report on Friday.

First Financial Bancorp. Price Performance

NASDAQ FFBC opened at $20.55 on Tuesday. First Financial Bancorp. has a one year low of $18.75 and a one year high of $26.72. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $22.60 and a 200 day moving average of $24.00. The company has a market capitalization of $1.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.87 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 21st. The bank reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.06. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 12.31% and a net margin of 27.92%. The company had revenue of $264.12 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $202.70 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.46 EPS. First Financial Bancorp.’s revenue for the quarter was up 70.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.65 EPS for the current year.

First Financial Bancorp. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 1st were issued a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 28th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.48%. First Financial Bancorp.’s payout ratio is 35.25%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other First Financial Bancorp. news, insider Claude E. Davis sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.55, for a total value of $638,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 75,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,939,398.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 2.11% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

First Financial Bancorp. Company Profile

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First Financial Bancorp operates as a bank holding company. The firm operates through its wholly owned subsidiary, First Financial Bank, which engages in the provision of commercial banking, financial and other related activities. It operates through the following business lines: Commercial, Retail Banking, Mortgage Banking, Wealth Management, Investment Commercial Real Estate, and Commercial Finance.