First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) Upgraded at StockNews.com

First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday.

Separately, Piper Sandler lowered their price target on First Commonwealth Financial from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, First Commonwealth Financial has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $17.30.

First Commonwealth Financial Stock Performance

Shares of FCF stock traded down $0.15 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $18.98. 393,233 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 517,043. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $17.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $15.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.82 and a beta of 0.83. First Commonwealth Financial has a 12-month low of $12.41 and a 12-month high of $19.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92.

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 return on equity of 11.19% and a net margin of 21.87%. The company had revenue of $121.21 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $119.47 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.39 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue 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.

Insider Activity at First Commonwealth Financial

In related news, EVP Michael P. Mccuen purchased 2,919 shares of First Commonwealth Financial stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $16.99 per share, for a total transaction of $49,593.81. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 57,623 shares in the company, valued at approximately $979,014.77. The trade was a 5.34 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.97% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Commonwealth Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,987,929 shares of the bank’s stock worth $96,503,000 after purchasing an additional 233,955 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,782,837 shares of the bank’s stock worth $64,876,000 after purchasing an additional 105,116 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 15.3% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,435,002 shares of the bank’s stock worth $58,601,000 after purchasing an additional 456,119 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 29.9% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,673,201 shares of the bank’s stock worth $23,107,000 after purchasing an additional 384,892 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in First Commonwealth Financial by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,209,436 shares of the bank’s stock worth $16,702,000 after acquiring an additional 33,759 shares during the period. 72.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.