Barclays PLC Buys 116,295 Shares of First Commonwealth Financial Co. (NYSE:FCF)

Barclays PLC raised its stake in First Commonwealth Financial Co. (NYSE:FCF) by 121.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 211,797 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 116,295 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned about 0.21% of First Commonwealth Financial worth $3,631,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of FCF. Jane Street Group LLC grew its position in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 39.5% in the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 150,590 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,583,000 after purchasing an additional 42,632 shares during the last quarter. Centiva Capital LP acquired a new position in First Commonwealth Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at $518,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its position in First Commonwealth Financial by 37.4% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 69,003 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,183,000 after buying an additional 18,799 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 64.2% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 34,892 shares of the bank’s stock worth $598,000 after buying an additional 13,643 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 22.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 24,190 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $415,000 after acquiring an additional 4,360 shares during the period. 72.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on FCF. StockNews.com cut shares of First Commonwealth Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of First Commonwealth Financial from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price target on First Commonwealth Financial from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $17.70.

First Commonwealth Financial Stock Performance

Shares of First Commonwealth Financial stock opened at $16.93 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $18.00 and a 200-day moving average of $16.54. The company has a market cap of $1.72 billion, a PE ratio of 11.44 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. First Commonwealth Financial Co. has a 1-year low of $12.41 and a 1-year high of $19.96.

First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The bank reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36 by ($0.05). First Commonwealth Financial had a return on equity of 11.19% and a net margin of 21.87%. The business had revenue of $121.21 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $119.47 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.39 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that First Commonwealth Financial Co. will post 1.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Commonwealth Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were given a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. First Commonwealth Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.14%.

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.