Brokerages Set First Commonwealth Financial Co. (NYSE:FCF) Target Price at $19.58

Shares of First Commonwealth Financial Co. (NYSE:FCF) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $19.58.

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on FCF shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $20.00 price target on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $21.50 price objective on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $21.00 price objective on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on First Commonwealth Financial from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded First Commonwealth Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th.

First Commonwealth Financial Stock Performance

Shares of FCF stock opened at $15.84 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market cap of $1.61 billion, a PE ratio of 11.40 and a beta of 0.84. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $16.34 and a 200-day moving average of $17.06. First Commonwealth Financial has a one year low of $12.41 and a one year high of $19.96.

First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.01). First Commonwealth Financial had a net margin of 20.38% and a return on equity of 10.36%. As a group, 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 company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. First Commonwealth Financial’s payout ratio is 37.41%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,956,654 shares of the bank’s stock worth $66,947,000 after purchasing an additional 173,817 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in First Commonwealth Financial by 15.3% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,435,002 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $58,601,000 after buying an additional 456,119 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in First Commonwealth Financial by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,992,712 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $33,717,000 after buying an additional 9,588 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in First Commonwealth Financial by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,483,405 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $25,099,000 after buying an additional 179,250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in First Commonwealth Financial by 19.9% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,268,410 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $21,461,000 after buying an additional 210,876 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.58% of the company’s stock.

About First Commonwealth Financial

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.