First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) Lowered to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report released on Wednesday morning.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of First Commonwealth Financial from $14.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on First Commonwealth Financial from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Janney Montgomery Scott downgraded First Commonwealth Financial from a buy rating to a neutral rating and upped their target price for the stock from $16.00 to $19.00 in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on First Commonwealth Financial from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, First Commonwealth Financial currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $17.50.

First Commonwealth Financial Price Performance

Shares of First Commonwealth Financial stock opened at $16.24 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.66 billion, a PE ratio of 10.09 and a beta of 0.83. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $16.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $14.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. First Commonwealth Financial has a 12-month low of $11.16 and a 12-month high of $19.01.

First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The bank reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $120.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $118.34 million. First Commonwealth Financial had a return on equity of 12.14% and a net margin of 23.39%. First Commonwealth Financial’s quarterly revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.42 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that First Commonwealth Financial will post 1.44 EPS for the current year.

First Commonwealth Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 2nd. First Commonwealth Financial’s payout ratio is 32.30%.

Insider Activity at First Commonwealth Financial

In other First Commonwealth Financial news, EVP Michael P. Mccuen acquired 2,919 shares of First Commonwealth Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $16.99 per share, for a total transaction of $49,593.81. Following the acquisition, the executive vice president now owns 57,623 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $979,014.77. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.97% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of First Commonwealth Financial

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in First Commonwealth Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $10,803,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new stake in First Commonwealth Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $1,066,000. Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in First Commonwealth Financial by 62.5% in the fourth quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 128,096 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,978,000 after acquiring an additional 49,267 shares during the period. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in First Commonwealth Financial in the first quarter worth about $407,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 38.0% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 81,530 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,074,000 after purchasing an additional 22,444 shares during the period. 72.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.