Short Interest in First Commonwealth Financial Co. (NYSE:FCF) Declines By 10.4%

First Commonwealth Financial Co. (NYSE:FCF) saw a large drop in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,030,000 shares, a drop of 10.4% from the October 15th total of 1,150,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 523,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.0 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on FCF. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on First Commonwealth Financial from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on First Commonwealth Financial from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on First Commonwealth Financial from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com cut First Commonwealth Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott cut First Commonwealth Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $16.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Monday, July 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued 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 a consensus price target of $17.30.

First Commonwealth Financial Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of FCF stock traded down $0.12 during trading on Monday, hitting $18.62. 283,828 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 518,447. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.58 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. First Commonwealth Financial has a 52-week low of $12.41 and a 52-week high of $19.50. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $17.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $15.76.

First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The bank reported $0.31 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 firm had revenue of $121.21 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $119.47 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.39 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that First Commonwealth Financial will post 1.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Commonwealth Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.79%. First Commonwealth Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.14%.

Insider Activity at First Commonwealth Financial

In other news, EVP Michael P. Mccuen purchased 2,919 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $16.99 per share, for a total transaction of $49,593.81. Following the purchase, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,623 shares in the company, valued at approximately $979,014.77. This represents a 5.34 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.97% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 451.1% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,995 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 1,633 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in First Commonwealth Financial by 2,572.6% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,657 shares of the bank’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 1,595 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in First Commonwealth Financial during the second quarter worth approximately $34,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in First Commonwealth Financial during the second quarter worth approximately $51,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in First Commonwealth Financial during the third quarter worth approximately $72,000. 72.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Commonwealth Financial Company Profile

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.