Two Sigma Investments LP Cuts Position in First Commonwealth Financial Co. (NYSE:FCF)

Two Sigma Investments LP lessened its holdings in First Commonwealth Financial Co. (NYSE:FCF) by 41.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 17,039 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 12,302 shares during the quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP’s holdings in First Commonwealth Financial were worth $288,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,956,654 shares of the bank’s stock worth $66,947,000 after buying an additional 173,817 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,992,712 shares of the bank’s stock worth $33,717,000 after buying an additional 9,588 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,483,405 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,099,000 after buying an additional 179,250 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 19.9% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,268,410 shares of the bank’s stock worth $21,461,000 after buying an additional 210,876 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA lifted its stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA now owns 930,673 shares of the bank’s stock worth $15,747,000 after buying an additional 5,055 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on FCF shares. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of First Commonwealth Financial from $20.00 to $18.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of First Commonwealth Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of First Commonwealth Financial from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $18.92.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Todd D. Brice acquired 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $16.09 per share, for a total transaction of $112,630.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $168,945. This trade represents a 200.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.17% of the company’s stock.

First Commonwealth Financial Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of FCF stock opened at $15.92 on Thursday. First Commonwealth Financial Co. has a 12-month low of $12.77 and a 12-month high of $19.96. 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’s 50 day moving average is $15.32 and its 200 day moving average is $16.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.45 and a beta of 0.81.

First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The bank reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.32. First Commonwealth Financial had a net margin of 20.38% and a return on equity of 10.36%. The business had revenue of $118.51 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.70 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.37 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that First Commonwealth Financial Co. will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current year.

First Commonwealth Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th were given a $0.135 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. This is an increase from First Commonwealth Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.54 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.39%. First Commonwealth Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.