First Commonwealth Financial Co. (NYSE:FCF) Short Interest Update

First Commonwealth Financial Co. (NYSE:FCF) saw a significant drop in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,030,000 shares, a drop of 10.4% from the October 15th total of 1,150,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 523,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.0 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Michael P. Mccuen bought 2,919 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $16.99 per share, with a total value of $49,593.81. Following the completion of the acquisition, the executive vice president now owns 57,623 shares in the company, valued at $979,014.77. The trade was a 5.34 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.97% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Commonwealth Financial

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 121.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 211,797 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,631,000 after purchasing an additional 116,295 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC grew its holdings in First Commonwealth Financial by 39.5% during the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 150,590 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,583,000 after buying an additional 42,632 shares in the last quarter. Centiva Capital LP bought a new position in shares of First Commonwealth Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $518,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 37.4% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 69,003 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,183,000 after acquiring an additional 18,799 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in First Commonwealth Financial by 64.2% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 34,892 shares of the bank’s stock worth $598,000 after purchasing an additional 13,643 shares during the last quarter. 72.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First Commonwealth Financial Price Performance

FCF stock traded down $0.04 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $18.58. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 241,252 shares, compared to its average volume of 516,964. The company’s fifty day moving average is $17.15 and its 200-day moving average is $15.76. First Commonwealth Financial has a 1 year low of $12.41 and a 1 year high of $19.50. The company has a market capitalization of $1.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.58 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The bank reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.05). First Commonwealth Financial had a return on equity of 11.19% and a net margin of 21.87%. The business had revenue of $121.21 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $119.47 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.39 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that First Commonwealth Financial will post 1.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Commonwealth Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.80%. First Commonwealth Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 35.14%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on FCF shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of First Commonwealth Financial from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of First Commonwealth Financial from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on First Commonwealth Financial from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Janney Montgomery Scott lowered First Commonwealth Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $16.00 to $19.00 in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded First Commonwealth Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $17.30.

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.