First Commonwealth Financial Corporation (NYSE:FCF) Stock Rated “Moderate Buy” by Wall Street Brokerages

First Commonwealth Financial Corporation (NYSE:FCF) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the six ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $24.20.

FCF has been the subject of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of First Commonwealth Financial from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $24.00 price objective on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a research report on Friday, July 31st. DA Davidson assumed coverage on First Commonwealth Financial in a research report on Monday, September 28th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $24.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $25.00 target price (up from $21.00) on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a research note on Thursday, July 30th.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Commonwealth Financial

In other news, CFO James Reske sold 2,072 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.52, for a total transaction of $42,517.44. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 70,988 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,456,673.76. This represents a 2.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 6,216 shares of company stock valued at $131,821 in the last three months. 1.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Commonwealth Financial

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial in the second quarter worth approximately $22,028,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 273,351 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted 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 purchasing an additional 5,218 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in First Commonwealth Financial by 23.8% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 283,563 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,985,000 after purchasing an additional 54,439 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 176,626 shares during the period. 72.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First Commonwealth Financial Stock Up 0.1%

NYSE:FCF opened at $19.90 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.21 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. First Commonwealth Financial has a fifty-two week low of $15.00 and a fifty-two week high of $22.34. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $21.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $19.88.

First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The bank reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $139.42 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $137.48 million. First Commonwealth Financial had a net margin of 22.62% and a return on equity of 10.79%. Analysts predict that First Commonwealth Financial will post 1.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Commonwealth Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. First Commonwealth Financial’s payout ratio is currently 34.36%.

First Commonwealth Financial Company Profile

First Commonwealth Financial Corporation (NYSE: FCF) is a bank holding company headquartered in Indiana, Pennsylvania. Through its principal subsidiary, First Commonwealth Bank, the company provides community banking and financial services to individuals, businesses, and institutions.

Its offerings include checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, residential and commercial mortgages, consumer loans, commercial lending, and other credit products. First Commonwealth also provides wealth management, trust, investment, and insurance services through affiliated and specialized business lines.

The company serves customers through banking locations and digital channels in western and central Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio.