First Commonwealth Financial Corporation $FCF Shares Bought by Vest Financial LLC

Key Points

• Vest Financial LLC increased its stake in First Commonwealth Financial Corporation by 24.9%, owning 118,422 shares worth approximately $1.92 million at the end of the 2nd quarter.
• Insider transactions showed a mixed activity, with EVP Michael P. Mccuen buying 2,826 shares while CFO James R. Reske sold 2,190 shares, indicating changes in insider sentiment.
• Brokerages have assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” to First Commonwealth Financial, with recent changes including a downgrade from Zacks and an upgrade from Wall Street Zen.

Vest Financial LLC grew its position in shares of First Commonwealth Financial Corporation (NYSE:FCF - Free Report) by 24.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 118,422 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 23,622 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC owned about 0.11% of First Commonwealth Financial worth $1,922,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FCF. CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 10.0% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 8,724 shares of the bank's stock worth $142,000 after buying an additional 792 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 5.8% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 16,715 shares of the bank's stock worth $260,000 after buying an additional 918 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System boosted its position in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 3.7% in the second quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 30,740 shares of the bank's stock worth $499,000 after buying an additional 1,100 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 3.5% in the second quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 38,911 shares of the bank's stock worth $632,000 after buying an additional 1,328 shares during the period. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 1.2% in the first quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 123,753 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,923,000 after buying an additional 1,514 shares during the period. 72.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Michael P. Mccuen acquired 2,826 shares of First Commonwealth Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $17.67 per share, for a total transaction of $49,935.42. Following the completion of the purchase, the executive vice president directly owned 59,021 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,042,901.07. This trade represents a 5.03% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO James R. Reske sold 2,190 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.99, for a total value of $37,208.10. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 85,866 shares in the company, valued at $1,458,863.34. This trade represents a 2.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 6,570 shares of company stock valued at $112,544 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.17% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on FCF. Wall Street Zen raised First Commonwealth Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded First Commonwealth Financial from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $18.90.

First Commonwealth Financial Trading Up 3.2%

Shares of FCF opened at $16.65 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.80 and a beta of 0.82. First Commonwealth Financial Corporation has a one year low of $13.54 and a one year high of $19.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $17.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $16.25.

First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The bank reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $131.33 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $125.88 million. First Commonwealth Financial had a return on equity of 9.71% and a net margin of 18.94%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.37 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that First Commonwealth Financial Corporation will post 1.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Commonwealth Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th were given a $0.135 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 8th. This represents a $0.54 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. First Commonwealth Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.54%.

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.

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