Insider Selling: First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) EVP Sells $458,500.00 in Stock

First Commonwealth Financial Corporation (NYSE:FCF) EVP Norman Montgomery sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.34, for a total transaction of $458,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 63,068 shares in the company, valued at $1,156,667.12. This represents a 28.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

First Commonwealth Financial Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:FCF opened at $18.62 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $17.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.30. The company has a market cap of $1.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.33 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.92. First Commonwealth Financial Corporation has a one year low of $15.00 and a one year high of $19.14.

First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The bank reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.40 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $133.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $134.32 million. First Commonwealth Financial had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 21.19%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.32 EPS. Analysts anticipate that First Commonwealth Financial Corporation will post 1.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Commonwealth Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th will be paid a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 8th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. This is an increase from First Commonwealth Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. First Commonwealth Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.76%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Commonwealth Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FCF. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 2,250.5% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,609 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 2,498 shares in the last quarter. Smithfield Trust Co purchased a new position in First Commonwealth Financial in the 4th quarter worth $51,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its position in First Commonwealth Financial by 20.7% in the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 3,621 shares of the bank’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 621 shares during the period. iSAM Funds UK Ltd bought a new stake in First Commonwealth Financial in the third quarter worth $85,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in First Commonwealth Financial by 58.5% in the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 5,285 shares of the bank’s stock worth $91,000 after purchasing an additional 1,950 shares during the last quarter. 72.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on FCF shares. Raymond James Financial set a $20.00 price target on First Commonwealth Financial and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of First Commonwealth Financial from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.33.

First Commonwealth Financial Company Profile

First Commonwealth Financial Corporation, headquartered in Indiana, Pennsylvania, is a bank holding company whose primary subsidiary is First Commonwealth Bank. Established in 1889 as Indiana National Bank, the company has grown through a combination of organic expansion and strategic acquisitions to build a diversified platform of commercial banking, retail banking and wealth management services.

First Commonwealth offers a comprehensive suite of financial products, including deposit accounts, personal and business lending solutions, mortgage origination and servicing, treasury management, and trust and investment services.