Short Interest in First Commonwealth Financial Co. (NYSE:FCF) Expands By 19.4%

First Commonwealth Financial Co. (NYSE:FCF - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,230,000 shares, an increase of 19.4% from the December 31st total of 1,030,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 520,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.4 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $20.00 target price on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson restated a "buy" rating and set a $21.00 price objective on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on First Commonwealth Financial from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $21.50 price target on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of First Commonwealth Financial from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $19.58.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Commonwealth Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 2,572.6% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,657 shares of the bank's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 1,595 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $46,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 173.4% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,396 shares of the bank's stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 2,154 shares during the period. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 92.0% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,830 shares of the bank's stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 1,835 shares during the last quarter. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Commonwealth Financial in the third quarter worth approximately $72,000. 72.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Commonwealth Financial Price Performance

First Commonwealth Financial stock traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $17.00. The company had a trading volume of 552,554 shares, compared to its average volume of 700,528. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $17.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $17.17. The company has a market cap of $1.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.23 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. First Commonwealth Financial has a fifty-two week low of $12.41 and a fifty-two week high of $19.96.

First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF - Get Free Report) last issued 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 research analysts predict that First Commonwealth Financial will post 1.41 earnings per share for the current year.

First Commonwealth Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.06%. First Commonwealth Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.