First Commonwealth Financial Corporation $FCF Shares Sold by Royce & Associates LP

Royce & Associates LP reduced its stake in First Commonwealth Financial Corporation (NYSE:FCF) by 29.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 67,672 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 28,439 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP owned approximately 0.07% of First Commonwealth Financial worth $1,141,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 20,253 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $341,000 after acquiring an additional 585 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its holdings in First Commonwealth Financial by 20.7% in the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 3,621 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 621 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in First Commonwealth Financial by 4.7% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 17,801 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $304,000 after purchasing an additional 802 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in First Commonwealth Financial by 0.4% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 300,680 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,880,000 after purchasing an additional 1,068 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in First Commonwealth Financial by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 65,945 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,112,000 after purchasing an additional 1,237 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $20.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO James R. Reske sold 2,072 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.52, for a total transaction of $38,373.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 81,348 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,506,564.96. The trade was a 2.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Norman J. Montgomery sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.34, for a total value of $458,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 63,068 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,156,667.12. This represents a 28.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 44,180 shares of company stock valued at $808,454. Insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

First Commonwealth Financial Stock Performance

Shares of First Commonwealth Financial stock opened at $18.95 on Monday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $18.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.93. First Commonwealth Financial Corporation has a one year low of $15.00 and a one year high of $19.14. The company has a market cap of $1.93 billion, a PE ratio of 12.55 and a beta of 0.75.

First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The bank reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.03). First Commonwealth Financial had a return on equity of 10.56% and a net margin of 21.19%.The firm had revenue of $133.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $134.32 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.32 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that First Commonwealth Financial Corporation will post 1.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Commonwealth Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th were given a dividend of $0.14 per share. This is an increase from First Commonwealth Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. First Commonwealth Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.09%.

About First Commonwealth Financial

First Commonwealth Financial Corporation, headquartered in Indiana, Pennsylvania, is a bank holding company whose primary subsidiary is First Commonwealth Bank. Established in 1889 as Indiana National Bank, the company has grown through a combination of organic expansion and strategic acquisitions to build a diversified platform of commercial banking, retail banking and wealth management services.

First Commonwealth offers a comprehensive suite of financial products, including deposit accounts, personal and business lending solutions, mortgage origination and servicing, treasury management, and trust and investment services.