First Commonwealth Financial Corporation (NYSE:FCF) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

First Commonwealth Financial Corporation (NYSE:FCF) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $20.3333.

A number of equities analysts have commented on FCF shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on First Commonwealth Financial from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other First Commonwealth Financial news, EVP Norman J. Montgomery sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.34, for a total transaction of $458,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 63,068 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,156,667.12. This represents a 28.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO James R. Reske sold 2,072 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.52, for a total value of $38,373.44. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 81,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,506,564.96. The trade was a 2.48% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 44,180 shares of company stock valued at $808,454 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Commonwealth Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FCF. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $15,685,000. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 112.9% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,091,740 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $18,614,000 after purchasing an additional 578,893 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,854,021 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $81,839,000 after purchasing an additional 216,099 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,516,155 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $42,422,000 after purchasing an additional 162,079 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 147.1% in the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 239,641 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,040,000 after purchasing an additional 142,645 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.58% of the company’s stock.

First Commonwealth Financial Stock Performance

Shares of FCF stock opened at $18.58 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $17.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.32. First Commonwealth Financial has a 12-month low of $15.00 and a 12-month high of $19.14. The company has a market capitalization of $1.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.30 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The bank reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.03). First Commonwealth Financial had a net margin of 21.19% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The firm had revenue of $133.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $134.32 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.32 EPS. First Commonwealth Financial’s revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that First Commonwealth Financial will post 1.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Commonwealth Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 8th. This is an increase from First Commonwealth Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. First Commonwealth Financial’s payout ratio is currently 35.76%.

First Commonwealth Financial Company Profile

First Commonwealth Financial Corporation, headquartered in Indiana, Pennsylvania, is a bank holding company whose primary subsidiary is First Commonwealth Bank. Established in 1889 as Indiana National Bank, the company has grown through a combination of organic expansion and strategic acquisitions to build a diversified platform of commercial banking, retail banking and wealth management services.

First Commonwealth offers a comprehensive suite of financial products, including deposit accounts, personal and business lending solutions, mortgage origination and servicing, treasury management, and trust and investment services.