First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) Downgraded to Sell Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF - Free Report) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Wednesday.

FCF has been the topic of several other research reports. Stephens reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $21.50 target price on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. DA Davidson reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $21.00 target price on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $20.00 price objective on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, First Commonwealth Financial presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $19.58.

First Commonwealth Financial Stock Performance

FCF traded up $0.24 on Wednesday, reaching $15.31. The stock had a trading volume of 693,290 shares, compared to its average volume of 610,429. First Commonwealth Financial has a 12-month low of $12.71 and a 12-month high of $19.96. 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 business's 50-day moving average price is $15.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $16.66. The company has a market cap of $1.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.01 and a beta of 0.72.

First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.01). First Commonwealth Financial had a net margin of 20.38% and a return on equity of 10.36%. Sell-side analysts forecast that First Commonwealth Financial will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current year.

First Commonwealth Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.40%. First Commonwealth Financial's payout ratio is 37.41%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Commonwealth Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FCF. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in First Commonwealth Financial by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,956,654 shares of the bank's stock worth $66,947,000 after acquiring an additional 173,817 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in First Commonwealth Financial by 15.3% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,435,002 shares of the bank's stock worth $58,601,000 after acquiring an additional 456,119 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in First Commonwealth Financial by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,992,712 shares of the bank's stock worth $33,717,000 after acquiring an additional 9,588 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in First Commonwealth Financial by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,483,405 shares of the bank's stock worth $25,099,000 after acquiring an additional 179,250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in First Commonwealth Financial by 19.9% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,268,410 shares of the bank's stock worth $21,461,000 after acquiring an additional 210,876 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.