First Commonwealth Financial Co. (NYSE:FCF) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of First Commonwealth Financial Co. (NYSE:FCF) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the five research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $17.70.

FCF has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com raised First Commonwealth Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped 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 report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced 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 report on Thursday, October 31st.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Commonwealth Financial

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 2,572.6% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,657 shares of the bank’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 1,595 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in First Commonwealth Financial during the 3rd quarter worth $46,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in First Commonwealth Financial in the 2nd quarter worth about $51,000. Finally, CWM LLC raised its position in First Commonwealth Financial by 92.0% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,830 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 1,835 shares during the last quarter. 72.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Commonwealth Financial Price Performance

NYSE:FCF opened at $17.10 on Thursday. First Commonwealth Financial has a 52 week low of $12.41 and a 52 week high of $19.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $17.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.63. The firm has a market cap of $1.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.55 and a beta of 0.86.

First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The bank reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $121.21 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $119.47 million. First Commonwealth Financial had a return on equity of 11.19% and a net margin of 21.87%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.39 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that First Commonwealth Financial will post 1.4 earnings per share for the current year.

First Commonwealth Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.04%. First Commonwealth Financial’s payout ratio is currently 35.14%.

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.