First Commonwealth Financial Corporation $FCF Stake Increased by UBS Group AG

Key Points

• UBS Group AG more than doubled its stake in First Commonwealth Financial in the fourth quarter, increasing holdings by 103% to 210,197 shares worth about $3.54 million.
• Several other institutional investors also boosted positions, and hedge funds and other institutions now own 72.58% of the bank’s shares, showing strong institutional interest.
• Analysts remain cautiously positive on FCF: the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” with a target price of $20.33, while the company recently posted earnings of $0.37 per share, slightly below estimates, and maintained a quarterly dividend of $0.14 per share.

UBS Group AG grew its holdings in First Commonwealth Financial Corporation (NYSE:FCF - Free Report) by 103.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 210,197 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 106,654 shares during the period. UBS Group AG owned approximately 0.20% of First Commonwealth Financial worth $3,544,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of FCF. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 112.9% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,091,740 shares of the bank's stock valued at $18,614,000 after purchasing an additional 578,893 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 2.4% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,734,957 shares of the bank's stock valued at $76,848,000 after purchasing an additional 112,731 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 17.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 760,796 shares of the bank's stock valued at $12,972,000 after purchasing an additional 111,586 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial in the second quarter valued at $1,704,000. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 214.9% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 108,604 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,688,000 after purchasing an additional 74,117 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.58% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FCF has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on First Commonwealth Financial from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a report on Tuesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, First Commonwealth Financial has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $20.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Commonwealth Financial

In other First Commonwealth Financial news, CFO James R. Reske sold 2,072 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.52, for a total transaction of $38,373.44. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 81,348 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,506,564.96. This represents a 2.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Norman J. Montgomery sold 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.34, for a total value of $458,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 63,068 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,156,667.12. This represents a 28.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 44,180 shares of company stock worth $808,454 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.90% of the company's stock.

First Commonwealth Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FCF opened at $18.60 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. First Commonwealth Financial Corporation has a 1 year low of $15.00 and a 1 year high of $19.14. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $18.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $17.49. The firm has a market cap of $1.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.31 and a beta of 0.75.

First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF - Get Free Report) 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). First Commonwealth Financial had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 21.19%.The firm had revenue of $133.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $134.32 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.32 earnings per share. First Commonwealth Financial's revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that First Commonwealth Financial Corporation will post 1.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Commonwealth Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th were issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. This is a positive change from First Commonwealth Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 8th. First Commonwealth Financial's dividend payout ratio is 37.09%.

First Commonwealth Financial Company Profile

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.

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