Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Buys New Shares in First Commonwealth Financial Corporation (NYSE:FCF)

Key Points

• Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH made a new investment of $627,000 in First Commonwealth Financial Corporation, acquiring 40,316 shares of the bank's stock.
• First Commonwealth Financial has recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.135 per share, representing an annualized yield of 3.3%.
• Wall Street analysts have given First Commonwealth Financial an average rating of "Moderate Buy" with a price target of $18.90, despite some recent adjustments to price targets by different firms.

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in First Commonwealth Financial Corporation (NYSE:FCF - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 40,316 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $627,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of FCF. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,536,000. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 19.9% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,268,410 shares of the bank's stock valued at $21,461,000 after buying an additional 210,876 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 13.7% in 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. Finally, Boothbay Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,308,000. 72.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First Commonwealth Financial Stock Up 1.5%

FCF traded up $0.25 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $16.58. 589,543 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 712,835. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $16.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $15.91. The company has a market cap of $1.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.75 and a beta of 0.84. First Commonwealth Financial Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $13.54 and a fifty-two week high of $19.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93.

First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $131.33 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $125.88 million. First Commonwealth Financial had a net margin of 18.94% and a return on equity of 9.71%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.37 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that First Commonwealth Financial Corporation will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Commonwealth Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th will be given a $0.135 dividend. This represents a $0.54 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 8th. First Commonwealth Financial's dividend payout ratio is 41.54%.

Insider Activity at First Commonwealth Financial

In related news, Director Todd D. Brice acquired 7,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $16.09 per share, for a total transaction of $112,630.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 10,500 shares in the company, valued at $168,945. This represents a 200.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 2.17% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FCF has been the subject of a number of research reports. 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 for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of First Commonwealth Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped 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 note on Thursday, May 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $18.90.

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.