First Financial Bancorp Insiders Sell US$889k Of Stock, Possibly Signalling Caution

Many First Financial Bancorp. (NASDAQ:FFBC) insiders ditched their stock over the past year, which may be of interest to the company’s shareholders. Knowing whether insiders are buying is usually more helpful when evaluating insider transactions, as insider selling can have various explanations. However, if numerous insiders are selling, shareholders should investigate more.

Although we don’t think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether.

See our latest analysis for First Financial Bancorp

First Financial Bancorp Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

The Independent Non-Executive Chairman of the Board, Claude Davis, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$639k worth of shares at a price of US$25.55 each. While insider selling is a negative, to us, it is more negative if the shares are sold at a lower price. The good news is that this large sale was at well above current price of US$20.38. So it may not tell us anything about how insiders feel about the current share price.

In total, First Financial Bancorp insiders sold more than they bought over the last year. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

I will like First Financial Bancorp better if I see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of growing companies with considerable, recent, insider buying.

Insider Ownership Of First Financial Bancorp

Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. It appears that First Financial Bancorp insiders own 2.2% of the company, worth about US$43m. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it’s enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.

So What Do The First Financial Bancorp Insider Transactions Indicate?

There haven’t been any insider transactions in the last three months — that doesn’t mean much. Our analysis of First Financial Bancorp insider transactions leaves us cautious. The modest level of insider ownership is, at least, some comfort. In addition to knowing about insider transactions going on, it’s beneficial to identify the risks facing First Financial Bancorp. For example, First Financial Bancorp has 2 warning signs (and 1 which can’t be ignored) we think you should know about.

But note: First Financial Bancorp may not be the best stock to buy. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies with high ROE and low debt.

For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.