Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes Position in First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 47,600 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $1,130,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System owned 0.05% of First Financial Bancorp. at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of FFBC. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 191.7% during the 3rd quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,427 shares of the bank’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 1,595 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 82.3% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 97,024 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,902,000 after purchasing an additional 43,798 shares during the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 218.9% during the 3rd quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 94,700 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,856,000 after purchasing an additional 65,008 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 28,656 shares of the bank’s stock worth $562,000 after purchasing an additional 569 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates raised its position in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 58,405 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,145,000 after purchasing an additional 5,985 shares during the last quarter. 77.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

First Financial Bancorp. Stock Up 3.0 %

FFBC stock opened at $22.60 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.40 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. First Financial Bancorp. has a one year low of $17.23 and a one year high of $24.99. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $21.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.61.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The bank reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.01. First Financial Bancorp. had a net margin of 22.94% and a return on equity of 12.16%. The firm had revenue of $202.43 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $207.95 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

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.