Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Buys New Position in First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 13,245 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $334,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in First Financial Bancorp. by 94.0% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 338,711 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,526,000 after purchasing an additional 164,105 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 162.4% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 242,187 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,381,000 after buying an additional 149,896 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new position in First Financial Bancorp. in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,792,000. Denali Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 41.1% during the 2nd quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 302,700 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,726,000 after purchasing an additional 88,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Choreo LLC raised its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 176.3% during the 2nd quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 127,326 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,820,000 after purchasing an additional 81,245 shares in the last quarter. 77.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stephens upgraded shares of First Financial Bancorp. from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of First Financial Bancorp. from $28.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Richard S. Dennen sold 932 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total transaction of $27,960.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 74,720 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,241,600. This represents a 1.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Scott T. Crawley sold 3,000 shares of First Financial Bancorp. stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.31, for a total value of $87,930.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,279 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $565,067.49. This represents a 13.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 11,700 shares of company stock worth $335,429 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.04% of the company’s stock.

First Financial Bancorp. Price Performance

NASDAQ:FFBC opened at $28.59 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $2.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.32 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $27.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $25.44. First Financial Bancorp. has a one year low of $20.59 and a one year high of $31.18.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The bank reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.01. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 18.55% and a return on equity of 10.32%. The firm had revenue of $302.82 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $214.00 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.67 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.53 earnings per share for the current year.

First Financial Bancorp. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio is 41.38%.

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.