Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Buys 173,817 Shares of First Commonwealth Financial Co. (NYSE:FCF)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in First Commonwealth Financial Co. (NYSE:FCF) by 4.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,956,654 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 173,817 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 3.89% of First Commonwealth Financial worth $66,947,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of FCF. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in First Commonwealth Financial by 2,572.6% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,657 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 1,595 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 7.2% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 538,964 shares of the bank’s stock worth $9,243,000 after purchasing an additional 36,001 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in First Commonwealth Financial during the third quarter valued at about $277,000. Versor Investments LP purchased a new stake in First Commonwealth Financial in the third quarter worth approximately $246,000. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP grew its position in First Commonwealth Financial by 121.4% during the third quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 24,977 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $428,000 after acquiring an additional 13,697 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on FCF. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $21.50 price target on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on First Commonwealth Financial from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. StockNews.com raised First Commonwealth Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $21.00 price target on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $20.00 price objective on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, First Commonwealth Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $19.58.

First Commonwealth Financial Trading Down 0.7 %

First Commonwealth Financial stock opened at $15.37 on Wednesday. First Commonwealth Financial Co. has a 52-week low of $12.41 and a 52-week high of $19.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The company has a market cap of $1.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.06 and a beta of 0.84. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.09.

First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.01). First Commonwealth Financial had a net margin of 20.38% and a return on equity of 10.36%. Analysts predict that First Commonwealth Financial Co. will post 1.45 EPS for the current year.

First Commonwealth Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.38%. First Commonwealth Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.41%.

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.