Brokerages Set First Commonwealth Financial Co. (NYSE:FCF) Target Price at $19.58

Shares of First Commonwealth Financial Co. (NYSE:FCF - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the six research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $18.92.

Several research firms have recently commented on FCF. DA Davidson reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $21.00 price target on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target 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. Royal Bank of Canada reduced 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 research note on Thursday. StockNews.com lowered shares of First Commonwealth Financial from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Stephens reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $21.50 price target on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th.

Institutional Trading of First Commonwealth Financial

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in First Commonwealth Financial by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,956,654 shares of the bank's stock worth $66,947,000 after acquiring an additional 173,817 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 15.3% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,435,002 shares of the bank's stock worth $58,601,000 after buying an additional 456,119 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in First Commonwealth Financial by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,992,712 shares of the bank's stock valued at $33,717,000 after acquiring an additional 9,588 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in First Commonwealth Financial by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,483,405 shares of the bank's stock worth $25,099,000 after acquiring an additional 179,250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 19.9% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,268,410 shares of the bank's stock worth $21,461,000 after purchasing an additional 210,876 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.58% of the company's stock.

First Commonwealth Financial Stock Performance

FCF traded up $0.04 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $15.93. 60,816 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 806,967. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $15.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $16.61. First Commonwealth Financial has a 1-year low of $12.71 and a 1-year high of $19.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.46 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The bank reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.32. First Commonwealth Financial had a return on equity of 10.36% and a net margin of 20.38%. The firm had revenue of $118.51 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.70 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.37 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that First Commonwealth Financial will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current year.

First Commonwealth Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be given a dividend of $0.135 per share. This is an increase from First Commonwealth Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. This represents a $0.54 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.39%. First Commonwealth Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.