First Community Corporation (NASDAQ:FCCO) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

First Community Corporation (NASDAQ:FCCO) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totaling 56,341 shares, a drop of 37.6% from the April 15th total of 90,304 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 72,101 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.8 days. Currently, 0.7% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Hovde Group upped their target price on First Community from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Community in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Community during the first quarter valued at $594,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in First Community by 31.4% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 125,328 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,663,000 after buying an additional 29,967 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in First Community by 55.2% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 54,575 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,595,000 after buying an additional 19,418 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in First Community by 11.3% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 205,992 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,021,000 after buying an additional 20,970 shares during the period. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of First Community by 8.3% during the 1st quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 35,776 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,046,000 after buying an additional 2,730 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 61.25% of the company’s stock.

First Community Stock Performance

First Community stock traded down $0.22 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $29.26. 52,111 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 68,706. First Community has a fifty-two week low of $21.80 and a fifty-two week high of $31.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The firm has a market cap of $274.46 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.47 and a beta of 0.35. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $29.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $29.29.

First Community (NASDAQ:FCCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $23.16 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.61 million. First Community had a net margin of 17.29% and a return on equity of 14.19%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that First Community will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current year.

First Community Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 5th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. First Community’s payout ratio is presently 25.10%.

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.