First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) Hits New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

First Commonwealth Financial Corporation (NYSE:FCF) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $19.12 and last traded at $18.99, with a volume of 191243 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $18.60.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FCF has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James Financial set a $20.00 price objective on First Commonwealth Financial and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on First Commonwealth Financial from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $19.75.

First Commonwealth Financial Trading Up 1.1%

The company has a market cap of $1.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.88 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $17.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $17.12.

First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.02. First Commonwealth Financial had a return on equity of 10.43% and a net margin of 20.88%.The company had revenue of $137.82 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $135.63 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.35 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that First Commonwealth Financial Corporation will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Commonwealth Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 20th. Investors of record on Friday, February 6th were issued a dividend of $0.135 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 6th. This represents a $0.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. First Commonwealth Financial’s payout ratio is presently 36.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Jane Grebenc sold 18,598 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.85, for a total transaction of $350,572.30. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 158,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,996,678.75. The trade was a 10.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO James R. Reske sold 2,072 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.86, for a total value of $37,005.92. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 83,420 shares in the company, valued at $1,489,881.20. The trade was a 2.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 22,742 shares of company stock worth $424,004 over the last three months. 1.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 20,253 shares of the bank’s stock worth $341,000 after acquiring an additional 585 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 20.7% during the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 3,621 shares of the bank’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 621 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 17,801 shares of the bank’s stock worth $304,000 after acquiring an additional 802 shares during the last quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 94,031 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,585,000 after acquiring an additional 875 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 300,680 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,880,000 after acquiring an additional 1,068 shares during the last quarter. 72.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.