Raymond James Financial Inc. Acquires Shares of 99,317 First Commonwealth Financial Co. (NYSE:FCF)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in First Commonwealth Financial Co. (NYSE:FCF - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 99,317 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $1,680,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.10% of First Commonwealth Financial at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake 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 valued at $66,947,000 after acquiring an additional 173,817 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 456,119 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 worth $33,717,000 after acquiring an additional 9,588 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 46.6% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 927,453 shares of the bank's stock worth $15,693,000 after purchasing an additional 295,011 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in First Commonwealth Financial by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 557,397 shares of the bank's stock valued at $9,431,000 after purchasing an additional 18,433 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.58% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on FCF. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of First Commonwealth Financial from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and set a $21.50 price target on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $21.00 price objective on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered shares of First Commonwealth Financial from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of First Commonwealth Financial from $20.00 to $18.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $18.92.

First Commonwealth Financial Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:FCF traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $15.69. 490,958 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 619,375. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm's fifty day moving average is $15.23 and its 200-day moving average is $16.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.29 and a beta of 0.77. First Commonwealth Financial Co. has a 12-month low of $12.71 and a 12-month high of $19.96.

First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The bank reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.32. First Commonwealth Financial had a net margin of 20.38% and a return on equity of 10.36%. The firm had revenue of $118.51 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.70 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.37 EPS. The business's revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that First Commonwealth Financial Co. will post 1.45 EPS for the current year.

First Commonwealth Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be issued a $0.135 dividend. This represents a $0.54 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.44%. This is an increase from First Commonwealth Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. First Commonwealth Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 40.30%.

First Commonwealth Financial 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.