First Community Corporation (NASDAQ:FCCO) Short Interest Update

First Community Corporation (NASDAQ:FCCO) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 67,933 shares, a decrease of 17.0% from the March 15th total of 81,811 shares. Approximately 0.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 82,273 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.8 days.

Institutional Trading of First Community

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new stake in First Community during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $524,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC increased its position in First Community by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 33,046 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $980,000 after purchasing an additional 592 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in First Community by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 13,232 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $392,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the period. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC increased its position in First Community by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 22,869 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $678,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in First Community by 22.4% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 14,057 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $417,000 after purchasing an additional 2,574 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.25% of the company’s stock.

First Community Stock Performance

First Community stock opened at $31.15 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $29.43 and a 200-day moving average of $28.96. First Community has a 1 year low of $20.31 and a 1 year high of $31.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The company has a market capitalization of $292.19 million, a P/E ratio of 12.61 and a beta of 0.34.

First Community (NASDAQ:FCCO) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.01. First Community had a return on equity of 12.71% and a net margin of 16.85%.The company had revenue of $20.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.25 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that First Community will post 2.28 earnings per share for the current year.

First Community Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 10th. First Community’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.91%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on FCCO shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Community in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Hovde Group upped their price objective on First Community from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.00.

First Community Company Profile

First Community Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: FCCO) is the bank holding company for First Community Bank, a full-service commercial bank headquartered in Bluefield, West Virginia. Through its subsidiary, the company delivers a comprehensive range of financial services to individuals, small businesses and larger commercial clients. Its operations are focused on community banking, with an emphasis on personalized relationship management and local decision-making.

The company’s core offerings include deposit products such as checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit and money market accounts, as well as consumer and commercial lending solutions.