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 Thursday morning.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and set a $17.00 target price on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Stephens decreased their target price on First Commonwealth Financial from $16.50 to $15.50 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 6th.

First Commonwealth Financial Stock Performance

Shares of FCF stock opened at $13.56 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. First Commonwealth Financial has a fifty-two week low of $11.16 and a fifty-two week high of $15.90. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $13.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $13.60. The company has a market capitalization of $1.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.42 and a beta of 0.87.

First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.01. First Commonwealth Financial had a return on equity of 12.89% and a net margin of 24.96%. The firm had revenue of $116.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $119.80 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that First Commonwealth Financial will post 1.44 earnings per share for the current year.

First Commonwealth Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 17th. Investors of record on Friday, May 3rd will be paid a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.83%. This is a boost from First Commonwealth Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 2nd. First Commonwealth Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.06%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Commonwealth Financial

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Emerald Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial in the third quarter worth $49,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of First Commonwealth Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $74,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 50.5% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 6,666 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $103,000 after purchasing an additional 2,236 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of First Commonwealth Financial during the third quarter valued at $90,000. Finally, EMC Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 7.0% during the third quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 12,300 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $150,000 after purchasing an additional 807 shares in the last quarter. 72.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.