Brokerages Set First Commonwealth Financial Co. (NYSE:FCF) Target Price at $17.70

On December 29, 2024, brokerages reported that shares of First Commonwealth Financial Co. (NYSE:FCF) have received an average rating of "Hold" from five rated firms monitoring the company, according to Marketbeat.com. Among these analysts, three have rated the stock as a hold, while two have given it a buy rating. The consensus target price set by these brokerages for the next year is $17.70.

Several research analysts have recently shared their insights on First Commonwealth Financial. For instance, on December 4th, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target for the stock from $18.00 to $20.00, attaching a "market perform" rating to it. Conversely, Piper Sandler lowered their price target from $17.00 to $16.00, issuing a "neutral" rating on October 31st. Additionally, StockNews.com upgraded the stock from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating as of December 24th.

First Commonwealth Financial Stock Performance

As of Thursday, FCF shares opened at $17.00. The company has experienced a fifty-two week low of $12.41 and a high of $19.96. In terms of financial ratios, First Commonwealth has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.92, and a current ratio also at 0.92. The stock’s fifty-day moving average is $17.97, while its two-hundred-day moving average stands at $16.69. First Commonwealth Financial boasts a market capitalization of $1.73 billion, a PE ratio of 11.49, and a beta of 0.86.

First Commonwealth Financial released its latest earnings report on October 29th, announcing earnings per share (EPS) of $0.31 for the quarter, which fell short of analyst expectations of $0.36 by $0.05. The bank reported a return on equity of 11.19% and a net margin of 21.87%, with revenues hitting $121.21 million against the consensus estimate of $119.47 million. Compared to the same quarter last year, the revenue represented a decrease of 1.1%. Projections indicate that the bank is expected to achieve earnings of 1.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dividend Announcement

On November 22nd, First Commonwealth Financial declared a quarterly dividend of $0.13 per share, which was paid to stockholders who held shares as of November 8th. This equates to an annualized dividend of $0.52, yielding a rate of 3.06%. The payout ratio for the firm is currently at 35.14%.

Institutional Investment Trends

There have been recent adjustments in investment positions regarding First Commonwealth Financial among institutional investors and hedge funds. The Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its stake in the firm by 1.8% in the second quarter, now holding 51,300 shares valued at $708,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares. The Bank of New York Mellon Corp also raised its position by 2.9%, now owning 1,209,436 shares worth approximately $16.7 million following the acquisition of 33,759 shares. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its investment by 15.0%, owning 32,656 shares valued at $451,000 after acquiring 4,262 additional shares. Furthermore, Innealta Capital LLC and Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought new positions during the same quarter, worth about $51,000 and $693,000 respectively. Currently, institutional investors own 72.58% of the stock.

About First Commonwealth Financial

First Commonwealth Financial Corporation is a financial holding company that provides a wide array of consumer and commercial banking services throughout the United States. Its offerings include personal checking and savings accounts, debit cards, consumer loans, credit lines, mortgages, investment certificates, and various banking services, including mobile and internet banking options.

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Brokerage, Finance, Investment