First Commonwealth Financial Corporation (FCF) – What Are Researchers Saying About This Stock?

First Commonwealth Financial Corporation (NYSE:FCF) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $24.00.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on FCF. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on First Commonwealth Financial from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $24.00 price objective on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a report on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings upgraded First Commonwealth Financial from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Monday. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $25.00 price target (up from $21.00) on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of First Commonwealth Financial from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO James Reske sold 2,072 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.52, for a total transaction of $42,517.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 70,988 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,456,673.76. This trade represents a 2.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Commonwealth Financial

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of First Commonwealth Financial during the second quarter valued at about $22,028,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in First Commonwealth Financial by 95.4% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 559,989 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,845,000 after purchasing an additional 273,351 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in First Commonwealth Financial by 1.1% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 498,193 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,758,000 after purchasing an additional 5,218 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 23.8% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 283,563 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,985,000 after purchasing an additional 54,439 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in First Commonwealth Financial by 453.3% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 215,591 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,790,000 after acquiring an additional 176,626 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 72.58% of the company’s stock.

First Commonwealth Financial Price Performance

FCF stock opened at $21.06 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.92. First Commonwealth Financial has a 1 year low of $15.30 and a 1 year high of $22.34. The firm has a market cap of $2.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.46 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $20.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.50.

First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The bank reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $143.34 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $141.36 million. First Commonwealth Financial had a return on equity of 11.17% and a net margin of 23.06%. On average, equities analysts predict that First Commonwealth Financial will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Commonwealth Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 6th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. First Commonwealth Financial’s payout ratio is currently 33.14%.

First Commonwealth Financial Company Profile

First Commonwealth Financial Corporation (NYSE: FCF) is a bank holding company headquartered in Indiana, Pennsylvania. Through its principal subsidiary, First Commonwealth Bank, the company provides financial services to consumers, businesses, municipalities and nonprofit organizations.

Its offerings include checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, residential and consumer lending, commercial loans, mortgages, treasury management and online and mobile banking. The company also provides wealth management, investment and trust services, along with insurance and other financial solutions through affiliated businesses.

First Commonwealth Bank serves communities primarily in western and central Pennsylvania and northeastern Ohio through a network of community banking offices and digital channels.