First Community (NASDAQ:FCCO) Shares Pass Above 200 Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

First Community Corporation (NASDAQ:FCCO)’s share price passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $25.53 and traded as high as $26.74. First Community shares last traded at $26.62, with a volume of 24,083 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

First Community Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $204.44 million, a P/E ratio of 11.09 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $27.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.53.

First Community (NASDAQ:FCCO) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 30th. The bank reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter. First Community had a return on equity of 12.70% and a net margin of 16.69%.The business had revenue of $13.86 million for the quarter. Equities analysts forecast that First Community Corporation will post 2.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Community Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 4th will be issued a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 4th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. First Community’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Roderick M. Todd, Jr. sold 1,679 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.00, for a total value of $47,012.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 11,866 shares in the company, valued at $332,248. This represents a 12.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 5.92% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of First Community

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in First Community by 0.3% in the second quarter. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC now owns 180,517 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,401,000 after acquiring an additional 530 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in First Community by 7.7% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,080 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $227,000 after buying an additional 721 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in First Community by 116.2% in the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,405 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 755 shares during the period. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in First Community by 4.4% in the second quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 23,716 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $578,000 after buying an additional 999 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in First Community by 324.2% in the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,349 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 1,031 shares during the period. 61.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About First Community

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.