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

Shares of First Commonwealth Financial Corporation (NYSE:FCF) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the seven analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $24.25.

FCF has been the topic of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped 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 report on Friday, July 31st. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $25.00 target price (up from $21.00) on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $24.00 target price on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a report on Friday, August 14th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on First Commonwealth Financial from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO James Reske sold 2,072 shares of First Commonwealth Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.25, for a total transaction of $44,030.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 73,060 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,552,525. This trade represents a 2.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 6,216 shares of company stock worth $131,779 over the last quarter. 1.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Commonwealth Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FCF. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of First Commonwealth Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $22,028,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in First Commonwealth Financial by 95.4% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 559,989 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,845,000 after buying an additional 273,351 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in First Commonwealth Financial by 1.1% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 498,193 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,758,000 after buying an additional 5,218 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in First Commonwealth Financial by 23.8% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 283,563 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,985,000 after buying an additional 54,439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in First Commonwealth Financial by 147.1% in 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.58% of the company’s stock.

First Commonwealth Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FCF opened at $21.10 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $21.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.51. The firm has a market cap of $2.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.95 and a beta of 0.74. First Commonwealth Financial has a 52 week low of $15.00 and a 52 week high of $22.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The bank reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.02. First Commonwealth Financial had a net margin of 22.62% and a return on equity of 10.79%. The company had revenue of $139.42 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $137.48 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that First Commonwealth Financial will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current year.

First Commonwealth Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 7th were paid a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 7th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. First Commonwealth Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.36%.

First Commonwealth Financial Company Profile

First Commonwealth Financial Corporation is a financial services company headquartered in Indiana, Pennsylvania, and the parent company of First Commonwealth Bank. The bank serves individuals, families, businesses and institutions through a network of community banking offices and digital banking channels.

First Commonwealth Bank provides a range of consumer and commercial banking products, including checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, residential mortgages, home equity loans, personal lending, commercial loans and lines of credit.