Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Increases Position in First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its stake in First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) by 16.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,830 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,033 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in First Financial Bancorp. were worth $685,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in First Financial Bancorp. by 23.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,993 shares of the bank’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 566 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 28,656 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $562,000 after buying an additional 569 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 19.9% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 6,189 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $121,000 after buying an additional 1,028 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 45,389 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $890,000 after buying an additional 1,622 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of First Financial Bancorp. by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 42,416 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,007,000 after buying an additional 1,797 shares during the period. 77.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First Financial Bancorp. Price Performance

NASDAQ:FFBC opened at $22.36 on Friday. First Financial Bancorp. has a one year low of $17.23 and a one year high of $24.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market cap of $2.13 billion, a PE ratio of 8.31 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $21.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.62.

First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The bank reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.59. First Financial Bancorp. had a return on equity of 12.16% and a net margin of 22.94%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.76 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that First Financial Bancorp. will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FFBC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $24.00 price objective on shares of First Financial Bancorp. in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on First Financial Bancorp. in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $26.00 target price on the stock.

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.