First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,380,000 shares, a growth of 19.0% from the February 13th total of 1,160,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 419,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.3 days. Currently, 1.5% of the company’s stock are sold short.

First Financial Bancorp. Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FFBC remained flat at $24.90 during mid-day trading on Tuesday. The company had a trading volume of 376,721 shares, compared to its average volume of 361,237. The firm has a market cap of $2.38 billion, a PE ratio of 10.38 and a beta of 0.99. First Financial Bancorp. has a 1-year low of $20.59 and a 1-year high of $31.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.91.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The bank reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.06. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 10.52% and a net margin of 18.67%. Equities analysts forecast that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

First Financial Bancorp. Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. First Financial Bancorp.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.00%.

Institutional Trading of First Financial Bancorp.

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Royce & Associates LP raised its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 62.9% during the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 80,853 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,040,000 after acquiring an additional 31,225 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 14.9% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 28,862 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $728,000 after acquiring an additional 3,747 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 73.1% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 153,281 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,867,000 after acquiring an additional 64,745 shares in the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC bought a new stake in First Financial Bancorp. during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,013,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC raised its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 41.7% during the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 21,470 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $542,000 after acquiring an additional 6,320 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on FFBC. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $30.00 price objective on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $33.00 price objective on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on First Financial Bancorp. from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th.

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.