Ieq Capital LLC Acquires 22,157 Shares of First Commonwealth Financial Corporation $FCF

Key Points

• Ieq Capital LLC significantly increased its holdings in First Commonwealth Financial Corporation, acquiring an additional 22,157 shares, leading to a total of 34,417 shares valued at $535,000.
• Institutional investors now own 72.58% of First Commonwealth Financial’s stock, with several firms like US Bancorp DE and CWM LLC making considerable investments in the first quarter.
• First Commonwealth Financial's quarterly earnings exceeded expectations, reporting an EPS of $0.38, and the firm recently announced a quarterly dividend with a yield of 3.1%.

Ieq Capital LLC raised its position in shares of First Commonwealth Financial Corporation (NYSE:FCF - Free Report) by 180.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 34,417 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 22,157 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC's holdings in First Commonwealth Financial were worth $535,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in First Commonwealth Financial by 5.1% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,159,706 shares of the bank's stock valued at $64,642,000 after acquiring an additional 203,052 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 3.3% during the first quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,231,886 shares of the bank's stock valued at $34,684,000 after buying an additional 70,286 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 13.7% during 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 during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 3.4% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 576,222 shares of the bank's stock valued at $8,954,000 after buying an additional 18,825 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in First Commonwealth Financial in the first quarter worth about $5,077,000. 72.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at First Commonwealth Financial

In related news, EVP Michael P. Mccuen purchased 2,826 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $17.67 per share, with a total value 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 ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO James R. Reske sold 2,190 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.66, for a total transaction of $36,485.40. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 90,246 shares in the company, valued at $1,503,498.36. This trade represents a 2.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.17% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Wall Street Zen raised shares of First Commonwealth Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $18.90.

First Commonwealth Financial Price Performance

Shares of FCF traded down $0.14 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $17.63. 96,710 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 680,171. First Commonwealth Financial Corporation has a one year low of $13.54 and a one year high of $19.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The business has a 50-day moving average of $16.97 and a 200 day moving average of $16.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.58 and a beta of 0.85.

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

First Commonwealth Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th were paid a dividend of $0.135 per share. This represents a $0.54 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. First Commonwealth Financial's dividend payout ratio is 41.54%.

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.