First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Sell

StockNews.com cut shares of First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report released on Friday morning.

FCF has been the topic of several other reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an outperform rating and issued a $17.00 price objective on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Stephens lowered their price target on shares of First Commonwealth Financial from $16.50 to $15.50 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 6th.

First Commonwealth Financial Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of FCF stock opened at $13.95 on Friday. First Commonwealth Financial has a 52-week low of $11.16 and a 52-week high of $15.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market cap of $1.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.66 and a beta of 0.86. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $13.44 and its 200-day moving average is $13.80.

First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $116.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $119.80 million. First Commonwealth Financial had a return on equity of 12.89% and a net margin of 24.96%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that First Commonwealth Financial will post 1.4 EPS for the current year.

First Commonwealth Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 2nd. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.73%. This is an increase from First Commonwealth Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. First Commonwealth Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.30%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Commonwealth Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 43.2% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 286,934 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,430,000 after purchasing an additional 86,587 shares in the last quarter. Mariner LLC acquired a new stake in First Commonwealth Financial during the third quarter worth approximately $32,855,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund bought a new position in First Commonwealth Financial during the 3rd quarter worth $746,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in First Commonwealth Financial by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,774,932 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $33,882,000 after acquiring an additional 84,832 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 56,365 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $688,000 after acquiring an additional 3,208 shares during the period. 72.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.