First Commonwealth Financial Co. (NYSE:FCF) Director Todd D. Brice Purchases 7,000 Shares

First Commonwealth Financial Co. (NYSE:FCF) Director Todd D. Brice acquired 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $16.09 per share, for a total transaction of $112,630.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 10,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $168,945. This represents a 200.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

First Commonwealth Financial Stock Performance

Shares of First Commonwealth Financial stock opened at $16.07 on Thursday. First Commonwealth Financial Co. has a 1-year low of $12.71 and a 1-year high of $19.96. The company has a market cap of $1.64 billion, a PE ratio of 11.56 and a beta of 0.77. 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 50 day moving average of $15.24 and a 200-day moving average of $16.55.

First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The bank reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.32. First Commonwealth Financial had a return on equity of 10.36% and a net margin of 20.38%. The business had revenue of $118.51 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.70 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.37 earnings per share. First Commonwealth Financial’s revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that First Commonwealth Financial Co. will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Commonwealth Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th will be paid a $0.135 dividend. This is an increase from First Commonwealth Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. This represents a $0.54 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.36%. First Commonwealth Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.30%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FCF has been the topic of several research reports. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $21.00 price target on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $21.50 price objective on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of First Commonwealth Financial from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of First Commonwealth Financial from $20.00 to $18.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded First Commonwealth Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.92.

Institutional Trading of First Commonwealth Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,159,706 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $64,642,000 after acquiring an additional 203,052 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 3.3% during the first quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,231,886 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $34,684,000 after purchasing an additional 70,286 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 9,588 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,483,405 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $25,099,000 after buying an additional 179,250 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in First Commonwealth Financial by 19.9% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,268,410 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $21,461,000 after buying an additional 210,876 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.58% of the company’s stock.

First Commonwealth Financial Company 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.