MQS Management LLC Acquires Shares of 33,906 First Commonwealth Financial Corporation $FCF

MQS Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial Corporation (NYSE:FCF) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 33,906 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $572,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp increased its position in First Commonwealth Financial by 2.4% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,734,957 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $76,848,000 after acquiring an additional 112,731 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 0.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,943,604 shares of the bank’s stock worth $67,238,000 after purchasing an additional 21,061 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 112.9% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,091,740 shares of the bank’s stock worth $18,614,000 after purchasing an additional 578,893 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 17.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 760,796 shares of the bank’s stock worth $12,972,000 after purchasing an additional 111,586 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 12.5% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 636,140 shares of the bank’s stock worth $10,846,000 after purchasing an additional 70,530 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FCF has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of First Commonwealth Financial from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, First Commonwealth Financial currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $20.33.

Insider Transactions at First Commonwealth Financial

In related news, EVP Norman J. Montgomery sold 12,964 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.37, for a total value of $238,148.68. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 50,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $920,410.48. This represents a 20.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO James R. Reske sold 2,072 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.52, for a total transaction of $38,373.44. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 81,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,506,564.96. The trade was a 2.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 44,180 shares of company stock valued at $808,454. 1.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

First Commonwealth Financial Trading Down 0.8%

NYSE FCF opened at $18.60 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $18.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $17.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The stock has a market cap of $1.89 billion, a PE ratio of 12.31 and a beta of 0.75. First Commonwealth Financial Corporation has a 12 month low of $15.00 and a 12 month high of $19.14.

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

First Commonwealth Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th were paid a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. This is a boost from First Commonwealth Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. First Commonwealth Financial’s payout ratio is currently 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.