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

Shares of First Commonwealth Financial Corporation (NYSE:FCF) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the seven research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $19.75.

Several analysts have weighed in on FCF shares. Raymond James Financial set a $20.00 price target on First Commonwealth Financial and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Piper Sandler started coverage on First Commonwealth Financial in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $21.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of First Commonwealth Financial from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Jane Grebenc sold 18,598 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.85, for a total transaction of $350,572.30. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 158,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,996,678.75. This trade represents a 10.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO James R. Reske sold 2,072 shares of First Commonwealth Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.74, for a total value of $34,685.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 80,311 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,344,406.14. This represents a 2.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 22,635 shares of company stock worth $417,719 over the last ninety days. 2.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Commonwealth Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 2,250.5% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,609 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 2,498 shares during the period. Smithfield Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of First Commonwealth Financial during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $51,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its holdings in First Commonwealth Financial by 20.7% in the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 3,621 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 621 shares in the last quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial in the 3rd quarter worth $85,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 58.5% in the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 5,285 shares of the bank’s stock worth $91,000 after acquiring an additional 1,950 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.58% of the company’s stock.

First Commonwealth Financial Trading Down 3.8%

Shares of First Commonwealth Financial stock opened at $17.72 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $17.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $17.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.13 and a beta of 0.81. First Commonwealth Financial has a 12-month low of $13.54 and a 12-month high of $19.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 27th. The bank reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $137.82 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $135.63 million. First Commonwealth Financial had a net margin of 20.88% and a return on equity of 10.43%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.35 earnings per share. Analysts predict that First Commonwealth Financial will post 1.45 EPS for the current year.

First Commonwealth Financial declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Monday, December 1st that allows the company to buyback $25.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the bank to repurchase up to 1.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

First Commonwealth Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 20th. Investors of record on Friday, February 6th were given a dividend of $0.135 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 6th. This represents a $0.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. First Commonwealth Financial’s payout ratio is currently 36.99%.

About First Commonwealth Financial

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.