First Commonwealth Financial Corporation (NYSE:FCF) Receives $18.90 Average Target Price from Analysts

First Commonwealth Financial Corporation (NYSE:FCF) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $18.90.

Separately, Wall Street Zen raised First Commonwealth Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd.

First Commonwealth Financial Stock Down 1.6%

First Commonwealth Financial stock opened at $17.12 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $17.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $16.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. First Commonwealth Financial has a twelve month low of $13.54 and a twelve month high of $19.96. The company has a market capitalization of $1.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.17 and a beta of 0.85.

First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The bank reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.04. First Commonwealth Financial had a return on equity of 9.71% and a net margin of 18.94%.The business had revenue of $131.33 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $125.88 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.37 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that First Commonwealth Financial will post 1.45 EPS for the current year.

First Commonwealth Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th were issued a dividend of $0.135 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. This represents a $0.54 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. First Commonwealth Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 41.54%.

Insider Transactions at First Commonwealth Financial

In other First Commonwealth Financial news, EVP Michael P. Mccuen acquired 2,826 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $17.67 per share, with a total value of $49,935.42. Following the acquisition, the executive vice president owned 59,021 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,042,901.07. This represents a 5.03% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO James R. Reske sold 2,190 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.74, for a total transaction of $38,850.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 88,056 shares in the company, valued at $1,562,113.44. The trade was a 2.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.17% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Commonwealth Financial

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in First Commonwealth Financial by 67.6% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,597,925 shares of the bank’s stock worth $58,394,000 after purchasing an additional 1,451,544 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 22.5% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,922,543 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $63,663,000 after buying an additional 719,680 shares during the period. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial during the second quarter valued at about $6,257,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial in the second quarter worth about $5,633,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 700.8% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 384,829 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,980,000 after acquiring an additional 336,775 shares during the period. 72.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.