First Commonwealth Financial Corporation (NYSE:FCF) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

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

A number of research firms recently issued reports on FCF. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on shares of 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of First Commonwealth Financial from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut First Commonwealth Financial from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Todd D. Brice bought 7,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $16.09 per share, for a total transaction of $112,630.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 10,500 shares in the company, valued at $168,945. This represents a 200.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 2.17% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its stake in First Commonwealth Financial by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 13,402 shares of the bank's stock worth $227,000 after purchasing an additional 705 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 23,857 shares of the bank's stock valued at $404,000 after buying an additional 895 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in First Commonwealth Financial by 5.8% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 16,715 shares of the bank's stock valued at $260,000 after acquiring an additional 918 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in First Commonwealth Financial by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 17,932 shares of the bank's stock worth $303,000 after acquiring an additional 1,048 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in First Commonwealth Financial by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 14,154 shares of the bank's stock worth $239,000 after acquiring an additional 1,053 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.58% of the company's stock.

First Commonwealth Financial Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of First Commonwealth Financial stock opened at $16.98 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. First Commonwealth Financial has a fifty-two week low of $13.54 and a fifty-two week high of $19.96. The company has a market cap of $1.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.67 and a beta of 0.81.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.32. First Commonwealth Financial had a return on equity of 9.80% and a net margin of 19.68%. The company had revenue of $118.51 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.70 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.37 earnings per share. First Commonwealth Financial's revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that First Commonwealth Financial will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Commonwealth Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th were issued a $0.135 dividend. This represents a $0.54 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. This is a boost from First Commonwealth Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. First Commonwealth Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.

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