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

First Commonwealth Financial Corporation (NYSE:FCF) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $20.3333.

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

Insider Transactions at First Commonwealth Financial

In other news, 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 56,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,056,477.38. This trade represents a 8.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO James R. Reske sold 2,072 shares of First Commonwealth Financial stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.50, for a total value of $42,476.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 77,204 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,582,682. The trade was a 2.61% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 49,430 shares of company stock valued at $914,266. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Commonwealth Financial

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Bill Few Associates Inc. lifted its stake in First Commonwealth Financial by 3.6% during the second quarter. Bill Few Associates Inc. now owns 26,167 shares of the bank’s stock worth $532,000 after purchasing an additional 905 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in First Commonwealth Financial by 95.4% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 559,989 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,845,000 after purchasing an additional 273,351 shares during the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors purchased a new position in shares of First Commonwealth Financial during the first quarter worth about $253,000. Amundi grew its stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 284.8% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 45,837 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $806,000 after purchasing an additional 33,925 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in First Commonwealth Financial by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 156,029 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,744,000 after buying an additional 3,590 shares during the period. 72.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First Commonwealth Financial Price Performance

NYSE:FCF opened at $20.77 on Friday. First Commonwealth Financial has a one year low of $15.00 and a one year high of $21.41. The stock has a market cap of $2.11 billion, a PE ratio of 13.76 and a beta of 0.74. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $19.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.93.

First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The bank reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.03). First Commonwealth Financial had a net margin of 21.19% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The firm had revenue of $133.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $134.32 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.32 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that First Commonwealth Financial will post 1.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Commonwealth Financial Increases Dividend

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

First Commonwealth Financial Company Profile

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.