Blue Trust Inc. Invests $42,000 in First Community Corporation $FCCO

Blue Trust Inc. bought a new position in First Community Corporation (NASDAQ:FCCO) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 1,733 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $42,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp purchased a new position in First Community during the first quarter valued at approximately $566,000. American Century Companies Inc. purchased a new position in First Community during the first quarter valued at approximately $456,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC grew its stake in First Community by 206.5% during the first quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 19,524 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $440,000 after acquiring an additional 13,155 shares in the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new position in First Community during the first quarter valued at approximately $495,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in First Community by 846.7% during the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,168 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 1,939 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.25% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on FCCO. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Community in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research cut shares of First Community from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.67.

First Community Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ FCCO opened at $26.76 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. First Community Corporation has a 12 month low of $19.46 and a 12 month high of $29.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $205.52 million, a PE ratio of 12.00 and a beta of 0.50. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.95.

First Community (NASDAQ:FCCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 30th. The bank reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter. First Community had a net margin of 15.87% and a return on equity of 11.65%. The business had revenue of $13.86 million during the quarter. Equities analysts expect that First Community Corporation will post 2.28 earnings per share for the current year.

First Community Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th were issued a $0.16 dividend. This is a boost from First Community’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 5th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. First Community’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other First Community news, Director Roderick M. Todd, Jr. sold 1,679 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.00, for a total value of $47,012.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 11,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $332,248. This represents a 12.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 5.92% of the company’s stock.

First Community Company Profile

First Community Corporation operates as the bank holding company for First Community Bank that provides various commercial and retail banking products and services to small-to-medium sized businesses, professionals, and individuals. The company operates through Commercial and Retail Banking, Mortgage Banking, and Investment Advisory and Non-Deposit segments.