MQS Management LLC Purchases New Shares in First Commonwealth Financial Corporation (NYSE:FCF)

MQS Management LLC acquired a new position in First Commonwealth Financial Corporation (NYSE:FCF) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 18,767 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $292,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 12.0% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 82,687 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,281,000 after acquiring an additional 8,828 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in First Commonwealth Financial in the first quarter worth $484,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in First Commonwealth Financial by 10.7% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 21,680 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $337,000 after purchasing an additional 2,088 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 46.6% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 927,453 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $15,693,000 after purchasing an additional 295,011 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial during the 4th quarter worth $304,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.58% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Todd D. Brice acquired 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $16.09 per share, with a total value of $112,630.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 10,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $168,945. This trade represents a 200.00% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 2.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on FCF. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of First Commonwealth Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of First Commonwealth Financial from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on shares of First Commonwealth Financial from $20.00 to $18.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, First Commonwealth Financial has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $18.92.

First Commonwealth Financial Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of FCF opened at $17.16 on Tuesday. First Commonwealth Financial Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $13.54 and a fifty-two week high of $19.96. The business has a 50-day moving average of $16.00 and a 200 day moving average of $15.91. The firm has a market cap of $1.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.81 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92.

First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The bank reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.32. The firm had revenue of $118.51 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.70 million. First Commonwealth Financial had a net margin of 19.68% and a return on equity of 9.80%. The company’s revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.37 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that First Commonwealth Financial Corporation will post 1.45 EPS for the current year.

First Commonwealth Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th were issued a dividend of $0.135 per share. This is a boost from First Commonwealth Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. This represents a $0.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.15%. First Commonwealth Financial’s payout ratio is presently 40.30%.

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.