First Commonwealth Financial Co. (NYSE:FCF) Shares Sold by Baird Financial Group Inc.

Baird Financial Group Inc. lessened its position in First Commonwealth Financial Co. (NYSE:FCF) by 4.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 24,049 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 1,088 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in First Commonwealth Financial were worth $407,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its stake in First Commonwealth Financial by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 13,402 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $227,000 after buying an additional 705 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in First Commonwealth Financial by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 23,857 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $404,000 after buying an additional 895 shares during the period. Aigen Investment Management LP increased its stake in First Commonwealth Financial by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 17,398 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $294,000 after buying an additional 983 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in First Commonwealth Financial by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 17,932 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $303,000 after buying an additional 1,048 shares during the period. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in First Commonwealth Financial by 56.8% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,388 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 1,227 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of First Commonwealth Financial from $20.00 to $18.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. StockNews.com lowered shares of First Commonwealth Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of First Commonwealth Financial from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $21.00 price target on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $21.50 price target on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.92.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Todd D. Brice acquired 7,000 shares of First Commonwealth Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $16.09 per share, for a total transaction of $112,630.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $168,945. The trade was a 200.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 2.17% of the company’s stock.

First Commonwealth Financial Stock Performance

NYSE:FCF opened at $16.17 on Friday. First Commonwealth Financial Co. has a 1 year low of $12.71 and a 1 year high of $19.96. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $15.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.65 billion, a PE ratio of 11.63 and a beta of 0.77.

First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The bank reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32. The business had revenue of $118.51 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.70 million. First Commonwealth Financial had a net margin of 20.38% and a return on equity of 10.36%. First Commonwealth Financial’s revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.37 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that First Commonwealth Financial Co. will post 1.45 EPS for the current year.

First Commonwealth Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be given a $0.135 dividend. This represents a $0.54 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.34%. This is a positive change from First Commonwealth Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. First Commonwealth Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.30%.

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.