First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) Rating Increased to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of First Commonwealth Financial from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $20.00 price target on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $21.50 price target on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $21.00 price target on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of First Commonwealth Financial from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $19.58.

First Commonwealth Financial Stock Performance

Shares of FCF stock opened at $16.54 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $16.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.13. First Commonwealth Financial has a 52 week low of $12.41 and a 52 week 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 company has a market cap of $1.68 billion, a PE ratio of 11.90 and a beta of 0.87.

First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.01). First Commonwealth Financial had a net margin of 20.38% and a return on equity of 10.36%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that First Commonwealth Financial will post 1.45 EPS for the current year.

First Commonwealth Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. First Commonwealth Financial’s payout ratio is currently 37.41%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Commonwealth Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,483,405 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,099,000 after purchasing an additional 179,250 shares during the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL acquired a new position in shares of First Commonwealth Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $629,000. Aquatic Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 128.9% in the 4th quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC now owns 8,011 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $136,000 after buying an additional 4,511 shares during the period. Boothbay Fund Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Commonwealth Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,308,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 75,742 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,282,000 after buying an additional 6,733 shares during the period. 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.