First Commonwealth Financial Co. (NYSE:FCF) Short Interest Up 30.6% in February

First Commonwealth Financial Co. (NYSE:FCF) saw a significant increase in short interest in 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 trading volume of 612,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.3 days. Currently, 1.4% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Institutional Trading of First Commonwealth Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,956,654 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $66,947,000 after buying an additional 173,817 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 15.3% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,435,002 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $58,601,000 after acquiring an additional 456,119 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,992,712 shares of the bank’s stock worth $33,717,000 after acquiring an additional 9,588 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,483,405 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,099,000 after acquiring an additional 179,250 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 19.9% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,268,410 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $21,461,000 after purchasing an additional 210,876 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on FCF. StockNews.com upgraded shares of First Commonwealth Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Stephens reaffirmed 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 reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $20.00 price objective on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of First Commonwealth Financial from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $19.58.

First Commonwealth Financial Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE:FCF traded up $0.01 on Tuesday, hitting $15.93. 311,468 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 511,790. The company has a market cap of $1.62 billion, a PE ratio of 11.51 and a beta of 0.84. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.05. 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 released 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 net margin of 20.38% and a return on equity of 10.36%. As a group, research analysts expect that First Commonwealth Financial will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current year.

First Commonwealth Financial Dividend Announcement

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