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

First Commonwealth Financial Co. (NYSE:FCF) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,230,000 shares, an increase of 19.4% from the December 15th total of 1,030,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 520,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.4 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on First Commonwealth Financial from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com upgraded First Commonwealth Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 1st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on First Commonwealth Financial from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $17.70.

First Commonwealth Financial Stock Up 1.0 %

NYSE:FCF traded up $0.16 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $16.54. 2,321,696 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 477,154. First Commonwealth Financial has a twelve month low of $12.41 and a twelve month high of $19.96. The stock has a market cap of $1.68 billion, a PE ratio of 11.17 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $17.79 and a 200 day moving average of $17.04.

First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) last released 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $119.47 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.39 earnings per share. First Commonwealth Financial’s revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that First Commonwealth Financial will post 1.4 earnings per share for the current year.

First Commonwealth Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. First Commonwealth Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 35.14%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Commonwealth Financial

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 213,437 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,611,000 after purchasing an additional 6,091 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 538,964 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $9,243,000 after purchasing an additional 36,001 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 15.3% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,435,002 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $58,601,000 after purchasing an additional 456,119 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 633 shares in the last quarter. 72.58% of the stock is owned by 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.