James Reske Sells 1,965 Shares of First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) Stock

First Commonwealth Financial Corporation (NYSE:FCF) CFO James Reske sold 1,965 shares of First Commonwealth Financial stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.52, for a total value of $32,461.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 82,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,360,967.16. This represents a 2.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

First Commonwealth Financial Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:FCF opened at $16.55 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The firm has a market cap of $1.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.00 and a beta of 0.82. First Commonwealth Financial Corporation has a 12 month low of $13.54 and a 12 month high of $18.82. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $16.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $16.50.

First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The bank reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $135.98 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $136.30 million. First Commonwealth Financial had a return on equity of 10.12% and a net margin of 20.00%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.31 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that First Commonwealth Financial Corporation will post 1.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Commonwealth Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 7th were paid a $0.135 dividend. This represents a $0.54 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 7th. First Commonwealth Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.13%.

First Commonwealth Financial announced that its board has approved a stock buyback 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FCF has been the topic of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of First Commonwealth Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, DA Davidson cut shares of First Commonwealth Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $19.63.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FCF. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in First Commonwealth Financial by 2,911.4% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,379 shares of the bank’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 2,300 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 16,715 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $260,000 after buying an additional 918 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,159,706 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $64,642,000 after buying an additional 203,052 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in First Commonwealth Financial during the 1st quarter worth $400,000. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new position in First Commonwealth Financial during the first quarter worth about $5,077,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.58% of the company’s stock.

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.