First Commonwealth Financial Co. (NYSE:FCF) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of First Commonwealth Financial Co. (NYSE:FCF) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the five research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $17.30.

Several equities analysts recently commented on FCF shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of First Commonwealth Financial from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on First Commonwealth Financial from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com lowered First Commonwealth Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on First Commonwealth Financial from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott lowered shares of First Commonwealth Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $16.00 to $19.00 in a report on Monday, July 29th.

First Commonwealth Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FCF opened at $19.00 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.84 and a beta of 0.83. The business has a 50-day moving average of $16.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $15.61. First Commonwealth Financial has a fifty-two week low of $12.30 and a fifty-two week high of $19.50.

First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The bank reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $121.21 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $119.47 million. First Commonwealth Financial had a net margin of 21.87% and a return on equity of 11.19%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.39 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that First Commonwealth Financial will post 1.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Commonwealth Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.74%. First Commonwealth Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Michael P. Mccuen purchased 2,919 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $16.99 per share, for a total transaction of $49,593.81. Following the completion of the purchase, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,623 shares in the company, valued at $979,014.77. This trade represents a 0.00 % 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. 1.97% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Commonwealth Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its stake in First Commonwealth Financial by 72.2% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 92,972 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,294,000 after acquiring an additional 38,990 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 137.7% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 68,729 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $957,000 after purchasing an additional 39,811 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lifted its stake in First Commonwealth Financial by 53.3% in the 2nd quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 136,563 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,886,000 after purchasing an additional 47,466 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in First Commonwealth Financial during the second quarter worth about $693,000. Finally, Algert Global LLC acquired a new position in First Commonwealth Financial during the second quarter worth approximately $142,000. 72.58% of the stock is 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.