Public Sector Pension Investment Board Boosts Holdings in First Commonwealth Financial Corporation $FCF

Key Points

• The Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in First Commonwealth Financial Corporation by 27.3% to reach approximately $4.999 million, holding 321,672 shares following the purchase of 68,913 additional shares.
• First Commonwealth Financial recently reported quarterly earnings of $0.38 per share, exceeding the consensus estimate, and revealed a quarterly dividend of $0.135, yielding 3.2% annually.
• Despite an increase in institutional interest and earnings performance, shares of First Commonwealth Financial experienced a 1.5% decline in value, with a current stock price opening at $16.70.

Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its position in shares of First Commonwealth Financial Corporation (NYSE:FCF - Free Report) by 27.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 321,672 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 68,913 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board owned approximately 0.32% of First Commonwealth Financial worth $4,999,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. US Bancorp DE grew its position in First Commonwealth Financial by 2,911.4% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,379 shares of the bank's stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 2,300 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 815.8% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 3,187 shares of the bank's stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 2,839 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its stake in First Commonwealth Financial by 73.6% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 7,932 shares of the bank's stock valued at $123,000 after purchasing an additional 3,362 shares during the last quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC lifted its position in First Commonwealth Financial by 128.9% during the fourth quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC now owns 8,011 shares of the bank's stock worth $136,000 after acquiring an additional 4,511 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Choreo LLC acquired a new stake in First Commonwealth Financial during the first quarter worth approximately $156,000. 72.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of First Commonwealth Financial from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. 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. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on shares of First Commonwealth Financial from $20.00 to $18.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, First Commonwealth Financial has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $18.90.

First Commonwealth Financial Stock Up 4.0%

Shares of NYSE FCF traded up $0.6740 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $17.5340. The stock had a trading volume of 218,446 shares, compared to its average volume of 694,495. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. First Commonwealth Financial Corporation has a 52 week low of $13.54 and a 52 week high of $19.96. The company has a market cap of $1.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.50 and a beta of 0.84. The business's 50 day moving average is $16.49 and its 200-day moving average is $15.93.

First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The bank reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $131.33 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $125.88 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.37 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that First Commonwealth Financial Corporation will post 1.45 EPS for the current year.

First Commonwealth Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.135 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 8th. This represents a $0.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. First Commonwealth Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.54%.

Insider Activity at First Commonwealth Financial

In other news, CFO James R. Reske sold 2,190 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.66, for a total value of $36,485.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 90,246 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,503,498.36. The trade was a 2.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.17% of the company's stock.

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.