Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Stake in First Commonwealth Financial Co. (NYSE:FCF)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in First Commonwealth Financial Co. (NYSE:FCF - Free Report) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 557,397 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 18,433 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.55% of First Commonwealth Financial worth $9,431,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 2,572.6% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,657 shares of the bank's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 1,595 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial during the third quarter worth about $46,000. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in First Commonwealth Financial by 61.6% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 5,842 shares of the bank's stock valued at $99,000 after purchasing an additional 2,226 shares during the period. Longboard Asset Management LP bought a new stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $175,000. Finally, Versor Investments LP bought a new position in shares of First Commonwealth Financial during the third quarter valued at approximately $246,000. 72.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on FCF. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective 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. Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $21.50 price target on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $20.00 price objective on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com raised First Commonwealth Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, DA Davidson restated a "buy" rating and set a $21.00 price target on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $19.58.

Remove Ads

First Commonwealth Financial Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of First Commonwealth Financial stock traded down $0.24 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $16.13. The company had a trading volume of 360,802 shares, compared to its average volume of 633,519. The company has a 50 day moving average of $16.58 and a 200 day moving average of $17.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.62 and a beta of 0.87. First Commonwealth Financial Co. has a 52-week low of $12.41 and a 52-week high of $19.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.93.

First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.01). First Commonwealth Financial had a return on equity of 10.36% and a net margin of 20.38%. On average, equities analysts predict that First Commonwealth Financial Co. will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Commonwealth Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. First Commonwealth Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.41%.

About First Commonwealth Financial

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.