First Commonwealth Financial Corporation (NYSE:FCF) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

First Commonwealth Financial Corporation (NYSE:FCF) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the seven analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $18.90.

FCF has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. DA Davidson lowered First Commonwealth Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Wall Street Zen upgraded First Commonwealth Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded First Commonwealth Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Michael P. Mccuen purchased 2,826 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $17.67 per share, for a total transaction of $49,935.42. Following the completion of the purchase, the executive vice president directly owned 59,021 shares in the company, valued at $1,042,901.07. This trade represents a 5.03% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO James R. Reske sold 2,190 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.99, for a total value of $37,208.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 85,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,458,863.34. This represents a 2.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 6,570 shares of company stock valued at $112,544. Corporate insiders own 2.17% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Amalgamated Bank boosted its stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 29,654 shares of the bank’s stock worth $481,000 after acquiring an additional 716 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 22,304 shares of the bank’s stock worth $362,000 after acquiring an additional 730 shares during the period. CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 10.0% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 8,724 shares of the bank’s stock worth $142,000 after acquiring an additional 792 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 121,512 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,972,000 after acquiring an additional 907 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 16,715 shares of the bank’s stock worth $260,000 after acquiring an additional 918 shares during the period. 72.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

First Commonwealth Financial Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of First Commonwealth Financial stock opened at $16.13 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $17.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.28. First Commonwealth Financial has a 52-week low of $13.54 and a 52-week high of $19.96. The firm has a market cap of $1.69 billion, a PE ratio of 12.40 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93.

First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The bank reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $125.88 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.37 EPS. On average, analysts predict that First Commonwealth Financial will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Commonwealth Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th were paid a $0.135 dividend. This represents a $0.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 8th. First Commonwealth Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.54%.

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.