Easterly Investment Partners LLC Lowers Stock Position in First Commonwealth Financial Corporation $FCF

Easterly Investment Partners LLC lowered its position in shares of First Commonwealth Financial Corporation (NYSE:FCF) by 42.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 68,443 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 50,322 shares during the quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC owned about 0.07% of First Commonwealth Financial worth $1,154,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its position in First Commonwealth Financial by 147.1% during the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 239,641 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,040,000 after buying an additional 142,645 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in First Commonwealth Financial by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,467,460 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $41,607,000 after buying an additional 6,421 shares during the period. Smithfield Trust Co purchased a new position in First Commonwealth Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $51,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its position in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 65,945 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,112,000 after purchasing an additional 1,237 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MQS Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Commonwealth Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $572,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $20.33.

First Commonwealth Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FCF opened at $18.64 on Tuesday. First Commonwealth Financial Corporation has a 1-year low of $15.00 and a 1-year high of $19.14. The business has a 50-day moving average of $18.32 and a 200-day moving average of $17.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The company has a market capitalization of $1.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.35 and a beta of 0.75.

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

First Commonwealth Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th were paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. 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 yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 8th. First Commonwealth Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Commonwealth Financial

In related news, CFO James R. Reske sold 2,072 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.52, for a total transaction of $38,373.44. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Norman J. Montgomery sold 12,964 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.37, for a total transaction of $238,148.68. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 50,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $920,410.48. This represents a 20.56% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 44,180 shares of company stock worth $808,454 in the last 90 days. 1.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

First Commonwealth Financial 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.