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

First Commonwealth Financial Co. (NYSE:FCF - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the six research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $18.92.

FCF has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. DA Davidson reissued a "buy" rating and set a $21.00 price target on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of First Commonwealth Financial from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on First Commonwealth Financial from $20.00 to $18.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $21.50 price objective on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a report on Wednesday, January 29th.

First Commonwealth Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:FCF traded up $0.38 on Wednesday, hitting $15.89. 725,159 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 617,533. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $15.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $16.62. 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 11.43 and a beta of 0.72.

First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The bank reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting 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 business had revenue of $118.51 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.70 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.37 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that First Commonwealth Financial will post 1.45 EPS for the current year.

First Commonwealth Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.135 per share. This is a positive change from First Commonwealth Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.54 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. First Commonwealth Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 40.30%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Commonwealth Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in First Commonwealth Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,147,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $304,000. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 121.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 211,797 shares of the bank's stock worth $3,631,000 after purchasing an additional 116,295 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 295,011 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi boosted its stake in First Commonwealth Financial by 187.4% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 51,631 shares of the bank's stock worth $847,000 after purchasing an additional 33,666 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.58% of the company's stock.

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.