Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Invests $800,000 in First Commonwealth Financial Corporation $FCF

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in First Commonwealth Financial Corporation (NYSE:FCF) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 45,500 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $800,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 2,250.5% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,609 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 2,498 shares during the period. Smithfield Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of First Commonwealth Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $51,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 20.7% in the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 3,621 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 621 shares in the last quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd acquired a new position in shares of First Commonwealth Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $85,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in First Commonwealth Financial by 29.7% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,378 shares of the bank’s stock worth $108,000 after buying an additional 1,460 shares during the period. 72.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $20.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO James R. Reske sold 2,072 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.93, for a total transaction of $39,222.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 79,276 shares in the company, valued at $1,500,694.68. This represents a 2.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Norman J. Montgomery sold 12,964 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.37, for a total transaction of $238,148.68. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 50,104 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $920,410.48. The trade was a 20.56% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 47,358 shares of company stock worth $871,790 in the last ninety days. 1.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

First Commonwealth Financial Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of FCF traded down $0.04 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $20.45. The stock had a trading volume of 10,908 shares, compared to its average volume of 807,906. First Commonwealth Financial Corporation has a 1-year low of $15.00 and a 1-year high of $20.87. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $19.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $18.24. The company has a market cap of $2.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.54 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The bank reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.03). First Commonwealth Financial had a net margin of 21.19% and a return on equity of 10.56%. The business had revenue of $133.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $134.32 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.32 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that First Commonwealth Financial Corporation will post 1.71 earnings per share for the current year.

First Commonwealth Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th were given a $0.14 dividend. This is a positive change from First Commonwealth Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. First Commonwealth Financial’s payout ratio is 37.09%.

About First Commonwealth Financial

First Commonwealth Financial Corporation, headquartered in Indiana, Pennsylvania, is a bank holding company whose primary subsidiary is First Commonwealth Bank. Established in 1889 as Indiana National Bank, the company has grown through a combination of organic expansion and strategic acquisitions to build a diversified platform of commercial banking, retail banking and wealth management services.

First Commonwealth offers a comprehensive suite of financial products, including deposit accounts, personal and business lending solutions, mortgage origination and servicing, treasury management, and trust and investment services.