Short Interest in First National Co. (NASDAQ:FXNC) Declines By 88.3%

First National Co. (NASDAQ:FXNC) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,000 shares, a drop of 88.3% from the September 30th total of 68,500 shares. Approximately 0.1% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 6,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.2 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Hovde Group began coverage on First National in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $22.00 target price on the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded shares of First National from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $21.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, August 1st.

First National Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of FXNC stock traded down $0.28 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $20.72. The company had a trading volume of 5,660 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,438. The company has a market cap of $130.06 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.69 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84. First National has a 12 month low of $14.50 and a 12 month high of $21.75. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $18.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $16.51.

First National (NASDAQ:FXNC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.04. First National had a return on equity of 7.29% and a net margin of 10.40%. The business had revenue of $14.18 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.90 million. On average, research analysts expect that First National will post 1.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First National Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a None dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 20th were given a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 20th. First National’s payout ratio is 41.96%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First National

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in First National stock. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of First National Co. (NASDAQ:FXNC) by 7.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 11,960 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 875 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC owned approximately 0.19% of First National worth $194,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.92% of the company’s stock.

First National Company Profile

First National Corporation operates as the bank holding company for First Bank that provides various commercial banking services to small and medium-sized businesses, individuals, estates, local governmental entities, and non-profit organizations in Virginia. The company's deposit products include checking, savings, money market, and individual retirement accounts, as well as certificates of deposit and treasury management solutions.