First Community (NASDAQ:FCCO) Director Jonathan Been Sells 14,800 Shares of Stock

First Community Corporation (NASDAQ:FCCO) Director Jonathan Been sold 14,800 shares of First Community stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.05, for a total transaction of $503,940.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 120,655 shares in the company, valued at $4,108,302.75. This trade represents a 10.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

First Community Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of FCCO traded up $0.52 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $34.56. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 38,772 shares, compared to its average volume of 74,436. First Community Corporation has a 52 week low of $25.92 and a 52 week high of $35.74. The stock has a market cap of $324.86 million, a PE ratio of 12.90 and a beta of 0.33. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $33.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

First Community (NASDAQ:FCCO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $25.14 million for 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%. On average, analysts predict that First Community Corporation will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Community Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 4th were paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. This is an increase from First Community’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 4th. First Community’s payout ratio is 25.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on FCCO. Wall Street Zen lowered First Community from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 15th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Community in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Hovde Group raised their price target on First Community from $36.00 to $37.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

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.