Royce & Associates LP Purchases 26,345 Shares of First Commonwealth Financial Co. (NYSE:FCF)

Royce & Associates LP lifted its holdings in First Commonwealth Financial Co. (NYSE:FCF) by 66.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 65,862 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 26,345 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP owned about 0.06% of First Commonwealth Financial worth $1,114,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its position in First Commonwealth Financial by 19.3% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 57,887 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $979,000 after purchasing an additional 9,365 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank raised its stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 201,400 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,408,000 after buying an additional 1,600 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 38.1% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 45,092 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $763,000 after buying an additional 12,436 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC grew its stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 69.2% during the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 4,578 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $77,000 after acquiring an additional 1,873 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi increased its holdings in First Commonwealth Financial by 187.4% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 51,631 shares of the bank’s stock worth $847,000 after acquiring an additional 33,666 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.58% of the company’s stock.

First Commonwealth Financial Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of FCF stock opened at $15.58 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $1.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.21 and a beta of 0.84. First Commonwealth Financial Co. has a 12-month low of $12.41 and a 12-month high of $19.96. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $16.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $17.01.

First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.01). First Commonwealth Financial had a return on equity of 10.36% and a net margin of 20.38%. Equities research analysts predict that First Commonwealth Financial Co. will post 1.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Commonwealth Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. First Commonwealth Financial’s payout ratio is 37.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FCF has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $20.00 price target on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $21.00 price target on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on First Commonwealth Financial from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $21.50 price objective on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, StockNews.com raised First Commonwealth Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, First Commonwealth Financial has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $19.58.

First Commonwealth Financial Profile

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.