Royce & Associates LP Has $1.49 Million Holdings in First Commonwealth Financial Corporation (NYSE:FCF)

Key Points

• Royce & Associates LP significantly increased its stake in First Commonwealth Financial Corporation by 45.9%, acquiring a total of 96,111 shares valued at approximately $1.49 million.
• First Commonwealth Financial recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.135, which reflects a yield of 3.31% and marks an increase from the previous dividend of $0.13.
• In its latest earnings report, First Commonwealth Financial met analysts' EPS estimates with a reported $0.32 per share and revenue of $118.51 million for the quarter.

Royce & Associates LP increased its holdings in shares of First Commonwealth Financial Corporation (NYSE:FCF - Free Report) by 45.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 96,111 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 30,249 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP owned about 0.09% of First Commonwealth Financial worth $1,494,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in First Commonwealth Financial by 3.4% in 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 in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in First Commonwealth Financial by 12.0% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 82,687 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,281,000 after buying an additional 8,828 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in First Commonwealth Financial in the first quarter valued at about $484,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in First Commonwealth Financial by 10.7% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 21,680 shares of the bank's stock valued at $337,000 after buying an additional 2,088 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in First Commonwealth Financial by 46.6% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 927,453 shares of the bank's stock valued at $15,693,000 after buying an additional 295,011 shares in the last quarter. 72.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FCF has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced 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 report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of First Commonwealth Financial from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced 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 report on Friday, May 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, First Commonwealth Financial currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $18.90.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Todd D. Brice bought 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $16.09 per share, with a total value of $112,630.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 10,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $168,945. This trade represents a 200.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 2.17% of the company's stock.

First Commonwealth Financial Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of FCF traded down $0.09 on Friday, reaching $16.42. 324,527 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 709,377. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.61 and a beta of 0.81. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $16.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $15.92. First Commonwealth Financial Corporation has a 12 month low of $13.54 and a 12 month high of $19.96.

First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $131.33 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $125.88 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.37 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that First Commonwealth Financial Corporation will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current year.

First Commonwealth Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be paid a $0.135 dividend. This represents a $0.54 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 8th. First Commonwealth Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 40.30%.

About First Commonwealth Financial

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.