First Community (NASDAQ:FCCO) Director Jane Sosebee Acquires 1,250 Shares

First Community Corporation (NASDAQ:FCCO) Director Jane Sosebee purchased 1,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $33.95 per share, for a total transaction of $42,437.50. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 10,855 shares in the company, valued at approximately $368,527.25. This trade represents a 13.01% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

First Community Price Performance

Shares of First Community stock opened at $33.31 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $313.11 million, a P/E ratio of 12.43 and a beta of 0.34. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.10. First Community Corporation has a twelve month low of $25.92 and a twelve month 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 quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.15. 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 18.32% and a return on equity of 13.23%. As a group, research analysts expect that First Community Corporation will post 3.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Community Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 4th were given a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. This is a positive change from First Community’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 4th. First Community’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on FCCO. Hovde Group lifted their price objective on First Community from $36.00 to $37.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of First Community from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed 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 issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.50.

Institutional Trading of First Community

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in First Community by 31.4% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 125,328 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,663,000 after acquiring an additional 29,967 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of First Community in the first quarter worth about $8,430,000. Pinnacle Holdings LLC bought a new stake in First Community during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,506,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Community during the fourth quarter worth $524,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in First Community in the 1st quarter valued at $594,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.25% of the company’s stock.

About First Community

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.