First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) CFO Sells $38,373.44 in Stock

Key Points

• CFO sale: First Commonwealth CFO James Reske sold 2,072 shares at an average price of $18.52 for $38,373.44 under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, trimming his stake by 2.48% to 81,348 shares (≈$1.51M).
• EPS miss: The bank reported Q1 EPS of $0.37 versus a $0.40 consensus (a $0.03 miss) and revenue of $133.7M (slightly below estimates) while revenue rose 12.9% year-over-year.
• Dividend increase and stock metrics: The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.14 (annualized $0.56) for a ~3.0% yield (ex-dividend May 8), and the stock trades near $18.62 with a market cap of about $1.90 billion.

First Commonwealth Financial Corporation (NYSE:FCF - Get Free Report) CFO James Reske sold 2,072 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.52, for a total value of $38,373.44. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 81,348 shares in the company, valued at $1,506,564.96. The trade was a 2.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

First Commonwealth Financial Stock Performance

Shares of FCF stock traded up $0.02 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $18.62. 520,275 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 855,123. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.90 billion, a PE ratio of 12.33 and a beta of 0.75. First Commonwealth Financial Corporation has a twelve month low of $15.00 and a twelve month high of $19.14. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $17.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $17.28.

First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The bank reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $133.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $134.32 million. First Commonwealth Financial had a net margin of 21.19% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.32 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that First Commonwealth Financial Corporation will post 1.71 EPS for the current year.

First Commonwealth Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th will be paid a $0.14 dividend. This is a boost from First Commonwealth Financial's previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 8th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. First Commonwealth Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 35.76%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Commonwealth Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 2,250.5% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,609 shares of the bank's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 2,498 shares during the period. Smithfield Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $51,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 20.7% in the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 3,621 shares of the bank's stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 621 shares during the period. iSAM Funds UK Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial in the third quarter valued at about $85,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in First Commonwealth Financial by 58.5% during the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 5,285 shares of the bank's stock worth $91,000 after purchasing an additional 1,950 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.58% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Raymond James Financial set a $20.00 target price on First Commonwealth Financial and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on First Commonwealth Financial from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $20.33.

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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