First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) Sets New 1-Year High at $16.10

First Commonwealth Financial Co. (NYSE:FCF)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $16.10 and last traded at $16.09, with a volume of 133645 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $15.56.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on FCF shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $17.00 target price on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of First Commonwealth Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 25th.

First Commonwealth Financial Trading Up 2.7 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $13.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $13.70. The firm has a market cap of $1.70 billion, a PE ratio of 10.34 and a beta of 0.85.

First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.01. First Commonwealth Financial had a net margin of 24.96% and a return on equity of 12.89%. The firm had revenue of $116.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $119.80 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that First Commonwealth Financial Co. will post 1.38 earnings per share for the current year.

First Commonwealth Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 17th. Investors of record on Friday, May 3rd were given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 2nd. This is a positive change from First Commonwealth Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. First Commonwealth Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.30%.

Institutional Trading of First Commonwealth Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in First Commonwealth Financial by 131.0% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 189,922 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,644,000 after buying an additional 107,706 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its position in First Commonwealth Financial by 43.2% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 286,934 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,430,000 after buying an additional 86,587 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new stake in First Commonwealth Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $1,066,000. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in First Commonwealth Financial during the first quarter valued at $407,000. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $10,803,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.58% of the company’s stock.

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.