First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) CFO Sells $39,222.96 in Stock

First Commonwealth Financial Corporation (NYSE:FCF) CFO James Reske sold 2,072 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.93, for a total transaction of $39,222.96. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 79,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,500,694.68. This represents a 2.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

First Commonwealth Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:FCF traded up $0.07 on Monday, reaching $19.18. 545,977 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 818,733. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market cap of $1.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.70 and a beta of 0.75. First Commonwealth Financial Corporation has a 52 week low of $15.00 and a 52 week high of $19.37. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $18.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.72.

First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The bank reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $133.70 million for 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%.First Commonwealth Financial’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.32 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that First Commonwealth Financial Corporation will post 1.71 earnings per share for the current year.

First Commonwealth Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th were given a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. This is a positive change from First Commonwealth Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 8th. First Commonwealth Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.09%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. UBS Group AG increased its stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 103.0% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 210,197 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,544,000 after buying an additional 106,654 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 146.5% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 97,976 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,652,000 after buying an additional 58,229 shares during the period. Wakefield Asset Management LLLP purchased a new position in shares of First Commonwealth Financial during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,160,000. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 147.1% during the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 239,641 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,040,000 after buying an additional 142,645 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 17.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 760,796 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $12,972,000 after buying an additional 111,586 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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 issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.33.

First Commonwealth Financial Company Profile

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.