Raymond James & Associates Sells 4,405 Shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC)

Raymond James & Associates trimmed its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) by 7.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 54,000 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 4,405 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates owned approximately 0.06% of First Financial Bancorp. worth $1,282,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 3.1% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 13,933,810 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $303,339,000 after purchasing an additional 423,327 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 0.7% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,686,870 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $225,279,000 after purchasing an additional 69,684 shares in the last quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 125,325 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 4.5% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,138,615 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $90,098,000 after purchasing an additional 178,038 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 3.9% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,575,867 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $77,846,000 after purchasing an additional 135,517 shares in the last quarter. 77.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Financial Bancorp. Price Performance

First Financial Bancorp. stock opened at $21.89 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $21.74 and its 200 day moving average is $21.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market cap of $2.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.14 and a beta of 1.05. First Financial Bancorp. has a one year low of $17.23 and a one year high of $24.99.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The bank reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.01. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 12.16% and a net margin of 22.94%. The company had revenue of $202.43 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $207.95 million. As a group, research analysts expect that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

First Financial Bancorp. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler began coverage on First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $26.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $24.00 price objective on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th.

First Financial Bancorp. Profile

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.