First Commonwealth Financial Corporation (NYSE:FCF) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• First Commonwealth Financial received a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating from six analysts, with an average 12-month price target of about $20.33. Weiss Ratings also reaffirmed a buy rating on the stock.
• The company reported Q1 earnings of $0.37 per share, missing estimates of $0.40, while revenue came in slightly below forecasts at $133.7 million. Revenue still rose 12.9% year over year, and analysts expect full-year EPS of 1.71.
• First Commonwealth recently raised its quarterly dividend to $0.14 per share, or $0.56 annually, for a 3.0% yield. Meanwhile, insiders sold shares in recent months, while institutional investors continue to hold a large majority of the stock.

First Commonwealth Financial Corporation (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.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $20.3333.

Separately, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th.

First Commonwealth Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:FCF opened at $18.60 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.32 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $18.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.68. First Commonwealth Financial has a fifty-two week low of $15.00 and a fifty-two week high of $19.14.

First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The bank reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $133.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $134.32 million. First Commonwealth Financial had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 21.19%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.32 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that First Commonwealth Financial will post 1.71 EPS for the current year.

First Commonwealth Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th were given a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. This is an increase from First Commonwealth Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. First Commonwealth Financial's dividend payout ratio is 37.09%.

Insider Activity at First Commonwealth Financial

In other First Commonwealth Financial news, EVP Norman J. Montgomery sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.34, for a total value of $458,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 63,068 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,156,667.12. This trade represents a 28.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO James R. Reske sold 2,072 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.52, for a total transaction of $38,373.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 81,348 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,506,564.96. This represents a 2.48% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 42,108 shares of company stock valued at $772,028 in the last three months. 1.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Commonwealth Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FCF. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in First Commonwealth Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $15,685,000. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in First Commonwealth Financial by 112.9% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,091,740 shares of the bank's stock valued at $18,614,000 after buying an additional 578,893 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in First Commonwealth Financial by 95.4% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 559,989 shares of the bank's stock valued at $9,845,000 after buying an additional 273,351 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in First Commonwealth Financial by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,854,021 shares of the bank's stock valued at $81,839,000 after buying an additional 216,099 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 453.3% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 215,591 shares of the bank's stock worth $3,790,000 after purchasing an additional 176,626 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, headquartered in Indiana, Pennsylvania, is a bank holding company whose primary subsidiary is First Commonwealth Bank. Established in 1889 as Indiana National Bank, the company has grown through a combination of organic expansion and strategic acquisitions to build a diversified platform of commercial banking, retail banking and wealth management services.

First Commonwealth offers a comprehensive suite of financial products, including deposit accounts, personal and business lending solutions, mortgage origination and servicing, treasury management, and trust and investment services.

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