Short Interest in First Commonwealth Financial Co. (NYSE:FCF) Grows By 30.6%

First Commonwealth Financial Co. (NYSE:FCF) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,410,000 shares, an increase of 30.6% from the February 13th total of 1,080,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 612,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.3 days. Approximately 1.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FCF has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded First Commonwealth Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on First Commonwealth Financial from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $21.00 price objective on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $21.50 target price on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $20.00 target price 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 assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, First Commonwealth Financial currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $19.58.

First Commonwealth Financial Price Performance

Shares of First Commonwealth Financial stock traded up $0.01 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $15.93. 311,468 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 511,790. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $16.33 and its 200-day moving average is $17.05. The stock has a market cap of $1.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.51 and a beta of 0.84. First Commonwealth Financial has a 52 week low of $12.41 and a 52 week high of $19.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.01). First Commonwealth Financial had a net margin of 20.38% and a return on equity of 10.36%. Research analysts expect that First Commonwealth Financial will post 1.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Commonwealth Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. First Commonwealth Financial’s payout ratio is presently 37.41%.

Institutional Trading of First Commonwealth Financial

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 2.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,782,837 shares of the bank’s stock worth $64,876,000 after buying an additional 105,116 shares during the period. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,147,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of First Commonwealth Financial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $304,000. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 121.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 211,797 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,631,000 after buying an additional 116,295 shares during the period. Finally, Royce & Associates LP purchased a new position in shares of First Commonwealth Financial in the third quarter worth $678,000. 72.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.