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

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

First Commonwealth Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE FCF traded up $0.25 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $16.09. 416,480 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 509,530. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The company’s 50 day moving average is $16.34 and its 200 day moving average is $17.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.58 and a beta of 0.84. First Commonwealth Financial has a one year low of $12.41 and a one year high of $19.96.

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

First Commonwealth Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. First Commonwealth Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 37.41%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Commonwealth Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position 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 worth $58,601,000 after purchasing an additional 456,119 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in First Commonwealth Financial by 46.6% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 927,453 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $15,693,000 after acquiring an additional 295,011 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in First Commonwealth Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,536,000. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 19.9% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,268,410 shares of the bank’s stock worth $21,461,000 after buying an additional 210,876 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of First Commonwealth Financial by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,483,405 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,099,000 after buying an additional 179,250 shares during the period. 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.