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

First Commonwealth Financial Corporation (NYSE:FCF) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $24.25.

FCF has been the subject of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of First Commonwealth Financial from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on First Commonwealth Financial from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $24.00 price objective on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a report on Friday, July 31st. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $25.00 price objective (up from $21.00) on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a report on Tuesday, May 19th.

Insider Activity at First Commonwealth Financial

In related news, EVP Michael P. Mccuen sold 5,250 shares of First Commonwealth Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.58, for a total value of $97,545.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 56,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,056,477.38. The trade was a 8.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO James R. Reske sold 2,072 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.85, for a total transaction of $45,273.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 75,132 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,641,634.20. This represents a 2.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,466 shares of company stock valued at $224,517. Corporate insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Commonwealth Financial

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in First Commonwealth Financial in the second quarter valued at $22,028,000. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in First Commonwealth Financial during the 4th quarter worth about $15,685,000. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 112.9% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,091,740 shares of the bank’s stock worth $18,614,000 after acquiring an additional 578,893 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 95.4% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 559,989 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,845,000 after acquiring an additional 273,351 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 4.7% in the 4th 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 period. Institutional investors own 72.58% of the company’s stock.

First Commonwealth Financial Stock Down 0.5%

FCF stock opened at $21.51 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.20 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. First Commonwealth Financial has a 12 month low of $15.00 and a 12 month high of $22.34. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $20.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $19.04.

First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The bank reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $139.42 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $137.48 million. First Commonwealth Financial had a net margin of 22.62% and a return on equity of 10.79%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that First Commonwealth Financial will post 1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Commonwealth Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 7th will be paid a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 7th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. First Commonwealth Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.36%.

About First Commonwealth Financial

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.