20,327 Shares in First Community Corporation $FCCO Purchased by Lazard Asset Management LLC

Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in First Community Corporation (NASDAQ:FCCO) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 20,327 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $594,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in First Community by 115.5% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 195,527 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,411,000 after acquiring an additional 104,796 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in shares of First Community by 1,230.5% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 12,640 shares of the bank’s stock worth $285,000 after purchasing an additional 11,690 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of First Community by 199.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 90,919 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,051,000 after purchasing an additional 60,596 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Community by 7.7% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,080 shares of the bank’s stock worth $227,000 after purchasing an additional 721 shares during the period. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC grew its position in First Community by 63.7% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 51,323 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,158,000 after buying an additional 19,978 shares during the last quarter. 61.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First Community Stock Performance

Shares of FCCO stock opened at $34.26 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $32.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.65. The stock has a market cap of $321.98 million, a PE ratio of 12.78 and a beta of 0.34. First Community Corporation has a 1 year low of $24.47 and a 1 year high of $35.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.82.

First Community (NASDAQ:FCCO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.15. First Community had a return on equity of 14.03% and a net margin of 18.32%.The company had revenue of $25.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.69 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that First Community Corporation will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Community Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. This is an increase from First Community’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 4th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. First Community’s payout ratio is 25.37%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other First Community news, EVP Fred Joseph Deutsch sold 10,000 shares of First Community stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.52, for a total transaction of $345,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 18,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $637,515.36. The trade was a 35.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 8.84% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on FCCO shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of First Community from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Community in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Two 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, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.00.

First Community 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.