First Commonwealth Financial Co. (NYSE:FCF) Short Interest Down 6.1% in November

First Commonwealth Financial Co. (NYSE:FCF) was the target of a large decrease in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 967,200 shares, a decrease of 6.1% from the October 31st total of 1,030,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 513,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.9 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FCF has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective 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. StockNews.com upgraded First Commonwealth Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $17.30.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Michael P. Mccuen bought 2,919 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $16.99 per share, for a total transaction of $49,593.81. Following the completion of the acquisition, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,623 shares in the company, valued at approximately $979,014.77. This represents a 5.34 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.97% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Commonwealth Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FCF. CWM LLC increased its stake in First Commonwealth Financial by 451.1% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,995 shares of the bank’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 1,633 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in First Commonwealth Financial by 2,572.6% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,657 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 1,595 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Commonwealth Financial during the second quarter valued at about $34,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial in the third quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial in the second quarter worth about $51,000. 72.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

First Commonwealth Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:FCF traded down $0.13 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $18.70. The company had a trading volume of 418,063 shares, compared to its average volume of 516,228. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $17.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $16.12. The firm has a market cap of $1.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.63 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. First Commonwealth Financial has a 52 week low of $12.41 and a 52 week high of $19.96.

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

First Commonwealth Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. First Commonwealth Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.14%.

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.