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

Shares of First Commonwealth Financial Corporation (NYSE:FCF) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the six brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $20.3333.

Separately, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Commonwealth Financial

In other First Commonwealth Financial news, CFO James R. Reske sold 2,072 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.93, for a total transaction of $39,222.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 79,276 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,500,694.68. The trade was a 2.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Michael P. Mccuen sold 5,250 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 56,861 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,056,477.38. The trade was a 8.45% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 47,358 shares of company stock valued at $871,790 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Commonwealth Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in First Commonwealth Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $15,685,000. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake 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 during the period. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 95.4% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 559,989 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,845,000 after acquiring an additional 273,351 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted 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 acquiring an additional 216,099 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 453.3% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 215,591 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,790,000 after acquiring an additional 176,626 shares during the period. 72.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

First Commonwealth Financial Stock Performance

Shares of FCF stock opened at $20.45 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The business has a 50 day moving average of $19.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $18.21. First Commonwealth Financial has a 52 week low of $15.00 and a 52 week high of $20.87. The company has a market cap of $2.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.54 and a beta of 0.74.

First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) last announced its quarterly 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). First Commonwealth Financial had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 21.19%.The company had revenue of $133.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $134.32 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.32 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that First Commonwealth Financial will post 1.71 EPS for the current year.

First Commonwealth Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th were given a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 8th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. This is a boost from First Commonwealth Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. First Commonwealth Financial’s payout ratio is 37.09%.

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.