First Commonwealth Financial Co. (NYSE:FCF) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

First Commonwealth Financial Co. (NYSE:FCF - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the six analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $18.92.

A number of brokerages have commented on FCF. Stephens reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $21.50 target price on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on 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. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $21.00 price objective on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut 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 research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of First Commonwealth Financial from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Todd D. Brice acquired 7,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $16.09 per share, for a total transaction of $112,630.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 10,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $168,945. The trade was a 200.00% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 2.17% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Commonwealth Financial

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in First Commonwealth Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,147,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial during the 4th quarter worth $304,000. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 121.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 211,797 shares of the bank's stock worth $3,631,000 after buying an additional 116,295 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 46.6% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 927,453 shares of the bank's stock worth $15,693,000 after buying an additional 295,011 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi boosted its holdings in First Commonwealth Financial by 187.4% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 51,631 shares of the bank's stock valued at $847,000 after acquiring an additional 33,666 shares during the last quarter. 72.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First Commonwealth Financial Price Performance

Shares of First Commonwealth Financial stock traded up $0.36 on Friday, hitting $15.80. The company's stock had a trading volume of 467,806 shares, compared to its average volume of 629,395. The company has a market capitalization of $1.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.37 and a beta of 0.77. First Commonwealth Financial has a 52-week low of $12.71 and a 52-week high of $19.96. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $15.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $16.46. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The bank reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.32. The company had revenue of $118.51 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.70 million. First Commonwealth Financial had a net margin of 20.38% and a return on equity of 10.36%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.37 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that First Commonwealth Financial will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Commonwealth Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th were given a dividend of $0.135 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. This is an increase from First Commonwealth Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.54 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.42%. First Commonwealth Financial's dividend payout ratio is 40.30%.

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.