Insider Buying: First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) Director Buys $18,230.00 in Stock

First Commonwealth Financial Corporation (NYSE:FCF) Director Todd Brice purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $18.23 per share, for a total transaction of $18,230.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 13,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $246,105. The trade was a 8.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

First Commonwealth Financial Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of FCF opened at $18.87 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.95. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $17.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $16.88. First Commonwealth Financial Corporation has a 52 week low of $13.54 and a 52 week high of $19.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.92 and a beta of 0.81.

First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 27th. The bank reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $137.82 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $135.63 million. First Commonwealth Financial had a return on equity of 10.43% and a net margin of 20.88%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.35 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that First Commonwealth Financial Corporation will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current year.

First Commonwealth Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 20th. Investors of record on Friday, February 6th will be paid a $0.135 dividend. This represents a $0.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 6th. First Commonwealth Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.99%.

First Commonwealth Financial declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Monday, December 1st that permits the company to repurchase $25.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the bank to purchase up to 1.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 67.6% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,597,925 shares of the bank’s stock worth $58,394,000 after acquiring an additional 1,451,544 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in First Commonwealth Financial by 22.5% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,922,543 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $63,663,000 after purchasing an additional 719,680 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 102.1% during the third quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 779,194 shares of the bank’s stock worth $13,285,000 after purchasing an additional 393,681 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial in the second quarter valued at $5,633,000. Institutional investors own 72.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FCF has been the topic of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $21.00 price target on the stock. DA Davidson cut shares of First Commonwealth Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased 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 research report on Thursday, January 29th. Raymond James Financial set a $20.00 price objective on First Commonwealth Financial and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, First Commonwealth Financial has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $19.75.

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.