First Community (NASDAQ:FCCO) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.15 EPS

First Community (NASDAQ:FCCO) announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The bank reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.15, Zacks reports. The firm had revenue of $25.14 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.69 million. First Community had a net margin of 17.29% and a return on equity of 13.00%.

First Community Trading Up 0.8%

First Community stock opened at $32.49 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $31.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.29. The company has a market capitalization of $305.41 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.74 and a beta of 0.34. First Community has a 52 week low of $24.12 and a 52 week high of $34.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

First Community Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. This is a positive change from First Community’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 4th. First Community’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.10%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Community

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FCCO. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Community during the third quarter worth $26,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in First Community by 324.2% during the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,349 shares of the bank’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 1,031 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. purchased a new position in First Community during the second quarter valued at approximately $99,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund acquired a new position in First Community in the second quarter valued at approximately $102,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in First Community in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $182,000. 61.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Community in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.