StockNews.com Downgrades First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) to Sell

First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday.

FCF has been the subject of several other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $17.00 price target on shares of First Commonwealth Financial in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Stephens cut their price objective on First Commonwealth Financial from $16.50 to $15.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th.

First Commonwealth Financial Stock Performance

FCF opened at $13.54 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $1.38 billion, a PE ratio of 8.41 and a beta of 0.87. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $13.28 and a 200-day moving average of $13.61. First Commonwealth Financial has a 52-week low of $11.16 and a 52-week high of $15.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92.

First Commonwealth Financial (NYSE:FCF) last released its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $116.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $119.80 million. First Commonwealth Financial had a return on equity of 12.89% and a net margin of 24.96%. The firm’s revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.45 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that First Commonwealth Financial will post 1.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Commonwealth Financial

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Emerald Advisers LLC acquired a new position in First Commonwealth Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $49,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in First Commonwealth Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $74,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in First Commonwealth Financial by 50.5% in 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 in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in First Commonwealth Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $90,000. Finally, EMC Capital Management raised its holdings in First Commonwealth Financial by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 12,300 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $150,000 after acquiring an additional 807 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.58% of the company’s stock.

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.