Weiss Asset Management LP Purchases Shares of 99,575 First Commonwealth Financial Corporation $FCF

Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in shares of First Commonwealth Financial Corporation (NYSE:FCF) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 99,575 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $1,751,000. Weiss Asset Management LP owned 0.10% of First Commonwealth Financial as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in FCF. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 2,250.5% in the second 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 acquired a new position in First Commonwealth Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $51,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its position in First Commonwealth Financial by 20.7% during the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 3,621 shares of the bank’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 621 shares during the period. iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new position in First Commonwealth Financial during the third quarter worth about $85,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in First Commonwealth Financial by 29.7% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,378 shares of the bank’s stock worth $108,000 after buying an additional 1,460 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $20.33.

First Commonwealth Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:FCF opened at $20.83 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $2.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.79 and a beta of 0.74. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $19.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.58. First Commonwealth Financial Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $15.00 and a fifty-two week high of $21.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The bank reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $133.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $134.32 million. First Commonwealth Financial had a net margin of 21.19% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.32 earnings per share. Analysts expect that First Commonwealth Financial Corporation will post 1.71 EPS for the current year.

First Commonwealth Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th were issued a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 8th. This is an increase from First Commonwealth Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. First Commonwealth Financial’s payout ratio is 37.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Commonwealth Financial

In other First Commonwealth Financial news, EVP Norman J. Montgomery sold 12,964 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.37, for a total transaction of $238,148.68. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 50,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $920,410.48. The trade was a 20.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO James R. Reske sold 2,072 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.50, for a total value of $42,476.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 77,204 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,582,682. This trade represents a 2.61% 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 49,430 shares of company stock valued at $914,266. Company insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

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.