Brokerages Set First Commonwealth Financial Co. (NYSE:FCF) Target Price at $17.70

First Commonwealth Financial Co. (NYSE:FCF) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the five research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $17.70.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on FCF. StockNews.com raised shares of First Commonwealth Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on First Commonwealth Financial from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on First Commonwealth Financial from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st.

Institutional Trading of First Commonwealth Financial

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FCF. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in First Commonwealth Financial by 2.9% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,782,837 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $64,876,000 after acquiring an additional 105,116 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP purchased a new position in shares of First Commonwealth Financial during the third quarter valued at about $678,000. 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. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in shares of 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. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lifted its position in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 53.3% in the second quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 136,563 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,886,000 after buying an additional 47,466 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.58% of the company’s stock.

First Commonwealth Financial Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of First Commonwealth Financial stock opened at $17.00 on Thursday. First Commonwealth Financial has a 52-week low of $12.41 and a 52-week high of $19.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.49 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $17.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $16.69.

First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The bank reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $121.21 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $119.47 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.39 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that First Commonwealth Financial will post 1.4 EPS for the current year.

First Commonwealth Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. First Commonwealth Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.14%.

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.