Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 50,662 Shares of First Commonwealth Financial Co. (NYSE:FCF)

Vanguard Group Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of First Commonwealth Financial Co. (NYSE:FCF) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,711,641 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 50,662 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.12% of First Commonwealth Financial worth $198,161,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in FCF. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in First Commonwealth Financial by 15.3% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,435,002 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $58,601,000 after buying an additional 456,119 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,956,654 shares of the bank’s stock worth $66,947,000 after purchasing an additional 173,817 shares during the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC bought a new position in First Commonwealth Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $2,147,000. Barclays PLC grew its position in First Commonwealth Financial by 121.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 211,797 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,631,000 after purchasing an additional 116,295 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in First Commonwealth Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,680,000. 72.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $21.50 price target on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $21.00 target price on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com downgraded First Commonwealth Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $20.00 price objective on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a report on Thursday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, First Commonwealth Financial currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $19.58.

First Commonwealth Financial Trading Down 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE:FCF opened at $14.09 on Monday. First Commonwealth Financial Co. has a 52-week low of $12.41 and a 52-week high of $19.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.14 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.93. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $16.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $16.92.

First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.01). First Commonwealth Financial had a return on equity of 10.36% and a net margin of 20.38%. Analysts expect that First Commonwealth Financial Co. will post 1.45 EPS for the current year.

First Commonwealth Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.69%. First Commonwealth Financial’s payout ratio is currently 37.41%.

First Commonwealth Financial 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.