First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) Reaches New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

First Commonwealth Financial Co. (NYSE:FCF)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $19.85 and last traded at $19.75, with a volume of 23766 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.21.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of First Commonwealth Financial from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Janney Montgomery Scott downgraded First Commonwealth Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective 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 report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $17.30.

First Commonwealth Financial Stock Up 2.6 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The firm has a market cap of $2.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.45 and a beta of 0.83. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $17.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.90.

First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) last issued 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). The firm had revenue of $121.21 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $119.47 million. First Commonwealth Financial had a net margin of 21.87% and a return on equity of 11.19%. The business’s revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.39 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that First Commonwealth Financial Co. will post 1.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Commonwealth Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.64%. First Commonwealth Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.14%.

Insider Transactions at First Commonwealth Financial

In other First Commonwealth Financial news, EVP Michael P. Mccuen bought 2,919 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $16.99 per share, for a total transaction of $49,593.81. Following the acquisition, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,623 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $979,014.77. The trade was a 5.34 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.97% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Commonwealth Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its stake in First Commonwealth Financial by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 15,623 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $268,000 after buying an additional 633 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in First Commonwealth Financial by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 15,882 shares of the bank’s stock worth $272,000 after buying an additional 883 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in First Commonwealth Financial by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 51,300 shares of the bank’s stock worth $708,000 after buying an additional 900 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in First Commonwealth Financial by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 19,383 shares of the bank’s stock worth $332,000 after buying an additional 1,112 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in First Commonwealth Financial by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 20,434 shares of the bank’s stock worth $284,000 after buying an additional 1,217 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.