First Commonwealth Financial Corporation (NYSE:FCF) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

First Commonwealth Financial Corporation (NYSE:FCF) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seven brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $18.90.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research lowered First Commonwealth Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a report on Saturday. DA Davidson cut First Commonwealth Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded First Commonwealth Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd.

First Commonwealth Financial Stock Up 1.5%

FCF opened at $16.46 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $17.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $16.34. The company has a market cap of $1.72 billion, a PE ratio of 12.66 and a beta of 0.82. First Commonwealth Financial has a 1 year low of $13.54 and a 1 year high of $19.96. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The bank reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $131.33 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $125.88 million. First Commonwealth Financial had a net margin of 18.94% and a return on equity of 9.71%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.37 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that First Commonwealth Financial will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current year.

First Commonwealth Financial Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

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. Insiders sold 6,570 shares of company stock valued at $112,544 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.17% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 2,911.4% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,379 shares of the bank’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 2,300 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 2,250.5% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,609 shares of the bank’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 2,498 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 109.6% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,438 shares of the bank’s stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 2,321 shares during the period. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in First Commonwealth Financial by 73.6% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 7,932 shares of the bank’s stock worth $123,000 after purchasing an additional 3,362 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Choreo LLC acquired a new stake in First Commonwealth Financial during the 1st quarter worth approximately $156,000. 72.58% of the stock is currently owned by 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.