Norman Montgomery Sells 25,000 Shares of First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) Stock

First Commonwealth Financial Corporation (NYSE:FCF) EVP Norman Montgomery sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 63,068 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,156,667.12. The trade was a 28.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

First Commonwealth Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FCF traded up $0.01 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $18.47. 762,319 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 862,730. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $17.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $17.26. The stock has a market cap of $1.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.23 and a beta of 0.75. First Commonwealth Financial Corporation has a one year low of $15.00 and a one year high of $19.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

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

First Commonwealth Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th will be paid a $0.14 dividend. This is a positive change from First Commonwealth Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 8th. First Commonwealth Financial’s payout ratio is presently 37.09%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Commonwealth Financial

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in First Commonwealth Financial by 2,250.5% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,609 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 2,498 shares in the last quarter. Smithfield Trust Co bought a new position in First Commonwealth Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $51,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its position in First Commonwealth Financial by 20.7% in the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 3,621 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 621 shares in the last quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd bought a new position in First Commonwealth Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $85,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in First Commonwealth Financial by 58.5% in the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 5,285 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $91,000 after acquiring an additional 1,950 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on FCF. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of First Commonwealth Financial from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Raymond James Financial set a $20.00 price objective on shares of First Commonwealth Financial and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $20.33.

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.