First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Sell”

StockNews.com downgraded shares of First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report published on Thursday morning.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on First Commonwealth Financial from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $21.50 target price on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $20.00 price objective on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on First Commonwealth Financial from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $21.00 target price on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, First Commonwealth Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $19.58.

First Commonwealth Financial Stock Performance

Shares of FCF opened at $17.12 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $17.16 and a 200 day moving average of $17.17. First Commonwealth Financial has a one year low of $12.41 and a one year high of $19.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.31 and a beta of 0.87.

First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.01). First Commonwealth Financial had a return on equity of 10.36% and a net margin of 20.38%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that First Commonwealth Financial will post 1.41 EPS for the current year.

First Commonwealth Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. First Commonwealth Financial’s payout ratio is presently 37.41%.

Institutional Trading of First Commonwealth Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Inceptionr LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $176,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in First Commonwealth Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $1,680,000. Aigen Investment Management LP increased its holdings in First Commonwealth Financial by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 17,398 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $294,000 after buying an additional 983 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in First Commonwealth Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $304,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in First Commonwealth Financial by 85.5% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 52,473 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $888,000 after buying an additional 24,185 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.58% of the company’s stock.

First Commonwealth Financial Company Profile

First Commonwealth Financial Corporation, a financial holding company, provides various consumer and commercial banking services in the United States. Its consumer services include personal checking accounts, interest-earning checking accounts, savings and health savings accounts, insured money market accounts, debit cards, investment certificates, fixed and variable rate certificates of deposit, mortgage loans, secured and unsecured installment loans, construction and real estate loans, safe deposit facilities, credit cards, credit lines with overdraft checking protection, IRA accounts, and automated teller machine (atm) services, as well as internet, mobile, and telephone banking services.