First Commonwealth Financial Corporation $FCF Shares Sold by Vanguard Group Inc.

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its stake in First Commonwealth Financial by 1.1%, holding approximately 11.38% of the company valued at $180 million after selling 128,622 shares.
• First Commonwealth Financial recently reported a Q2 earnings per share of $0.38, surpassing the consensus estimate of $0.34, alongside quarterly revenue of $131.33 million.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.135 per share, reflecting an annualized yield of 3.2%, with payment scheduled for August 22nd.

Vanguard Group Inc. cut its stake in First Commonwealth Financial Corporation (NYSE:FCF - Free Report) by 1.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,583,019 shares of the bank's stock after selling 128,622 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 11.38% of First Commonwealth Financial worth $180,000,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in First Commonwealth Financial by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 576,222 shares of the bank's stock worth $8,954,000 after buying an additional 18,825 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in First Commonwealth Financial by 12.0% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 82,687 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,281,000 after buying an additional 8,828 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in First Commonwealth Financial during the 1st quarter worth $484,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in First Commonwealth Financial by 10.7% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 21,680 shares of the bank's stock worth $337,000 after buying an additional 2,088 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in First Commonwealth Financial by 1,385.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 32,898 shares of the bank's stock worth $511,000 after buying an additional 30,684 shares during the last quarter. 72.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at First Commonwealth Financial

In other news, CFO James R. Reske sold 2,190 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.66, for a total value of $36,485.40. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 90,246 shares in the company, valued at $1,503,498.36. This represents a 2.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 2.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

First Commonwealth Financial Stock Performance

First Commonwealth Financial stock traded down $0.1450 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $17.5850. 412,575 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 623,732. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $16.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $15.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.53 and a beta of 0.84. First Commonwealth Financial Corporation has a 1 year low of $13.54 and a 1 year 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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $131.33 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $125.88 million. First Commonwealth Financial had a return on equity of 9.71% and a net margin of 18.94%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.37 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that First Commonwealth Financial Corporation will post 1.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Commonwealth Financial Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FCF has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded First Commonwealth Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on 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. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $18.90.

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.