First Commonwealth Financial Co. (NYSE:FCF) Short Interest Update

First Commonwealth Financial Co. (NYSE:FCF) saw a significant decline in short interest in May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,290,000 shares, a decline of 14.0% from the May 15th total of 1,500,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 435,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.0 days.

First Commonwealth Financial Price Performance

Shares of FCF traded up $0.13 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $13.17. The stock had a trading volume of 405,896 shares, compared to its average volume of 463,416. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.14 and a beta of 0.86. 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 company’s fifty day moving average is $13.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $13.83. First Commonwealth Financial has a 52 week low of $11.16 and a 52 week high of $15.90.

First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.01. First Commonwealth Financial had a return on equity of 12.89% and a net margin of 24.96%. The business had revenue of $116.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $119.80 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.45 EPS. First Commonwealth Financial’s revenue for the quarter was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that First Commonwealth Financial will post 1.38 EPS for the current year.

First Commonwealth Financial Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This is a boost from First Commonwealth Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 2nd. First Commonwealth Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 32.30%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp boosted its stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 89,097 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,240,000 after purchasing an additional 887 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its stake in First Commonwealth Financial by 4.0% in the first quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 25,775 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $359,000 after acquiring an additional 995 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in First Commonwealth Financial by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 20,434 shares of the bank’s stock worth $284,000 after acquiring an additional 1,217 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in First Commonwealth Financial by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 226,200 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,762,000 after acquiring an additional 1,700 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 50.5% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 6,666 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $103,000 after acquiring an additional 2,236 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FCF has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised First Commonwealth Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $17.00 price objective on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a report on Tuesday, April 9th.

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.