Is First Financial Bancorp (FFBC) A Good Stock To Buy?

As industrywide interest jumped, key money managers have jumped into First Financial Bancorp (NASDAQ:FFBC) headfirst. Paul Tudor Jones’s Tudor Investment Corp initiated a $0.5 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new First Financial Bancorp (NASDAQ:FFBC) investors: D E Shaw, and Peter Rathjens, Bruce Clarke and John Campbell’s Arrowstreet Capital.

Let’s now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as First Financial Bancorp (NASDAQ:FFBC) but similarly valued. These stocks are ZIOPHARM Oncology Inc. (NASDAQ:ZIOP), NBT Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:NBTB), THE CHEMOURS COMPANY (NYSE:CC), and Granite Construction Inc. (NYSE:GVA). This group of stocks’ market values match First Financial Bancorp (NASDAQ:FFBC)’s market value.

As you can see, these stocks had an average of 14 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $73 million. That figure was $26 million in First Financial Bancorp (NASDAQ:FFBC)’s case. THE CHEMOURS COMPANY (NYSE:CC) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand, NBT Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ:NBTB) is the least popular one with only 5 bullish hedge fund positions. First Financial Bancorp (NASDAQ:FFBC) is not the least popular stock in this group, but hedge fund interest is still below average. This is a slightly negative signal and we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard, the CHEMOURS COMPANY (NYSE:CC) might be a better candidate to consider a long position.