First National Co. (NASDAQ:FXNC) Short Interest Down 20.4% in March

First National Co. (NASDAQ:FXNC) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 44,000 shares, a drop of 20.4% from the February 28th total of 55,300 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 26,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.6 days. Currently, 0.6% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Janney Montgomery Scott downgraded First National from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Hovde Group downgraded shares of First National from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $28.50 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th.

First National Trading Down 0.7 %

FXNC traded down $0.15 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $22.30. 6,565 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 24,212. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $24.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $22.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $200.03 million, a PE ratio of 19.22 and a beta of 0.57. First National has a fifty-two week low of $14.50 and a fifty-two week high of $26.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85.

First National (NASDAQ:FXNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.19. First National had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 7.51%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that First National will post 2.25 EPS for the current year.

First National Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.155 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.78%. First National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.45%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fourthstone LLC increased its stake in First National by 42.9% in the fourth quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 896,591 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,631,000 after purchasing an additional 269,124 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. acquired a new position in shares of First National in the 4th quarter valued at $5,538,000. Rhino Investment Partners Inc bought a new stake in shares of First National in the 4th quarter valued at $2,881,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in First National by 71.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 86,491 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,991,000 after buying an additional 36,090 shares during the period. Finally, PL Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in First National during the fourth quarter worth about $1,800,000. Institutional investors own 33.92% of the company’s stock.

About First National

First National Corporation operates as the bank holding company for First Bank that provides various commercial banking services to small and medium-sized businesses, individuals, estates, local governmental entities, and non-profit organizations in Virginia. The company's deposit products include checking, savings, money market, and individual retirement accounts, as well as certificates of deposit and treasury management solutions.