First Community Co. (NASDAQ:FCCO) Short Interest Up 94.9% in February

First Community Co. (NASDAQ:FCCO) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 130,200 shares, an increase of 94.9% from the January 31st total of 66,800 shares. Approximately 1.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 51,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.5 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Community

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of First Community by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 22,795 shares of the bank’s stock worth $489,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its stake in First Community by 214.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 10,046 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $215,000 after purchasing an additional 6,847 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in First Community by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 83,088 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,782,000 after purchasing an additional 5,157 shares in the last quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of First Community by 48.1% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC now owns 39,985 shares of the bank’s stock worth $857,000 after acquiring an additional 12,985 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of First Community in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $289,000. 61.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First Community Trading Up 2.2 %

First Community stock traded up $0.55 during trading on Monday, reaching $25.48. The company had a trading volume of 19,000 shares, compared to its average volume of 64,067. First Community has a 12-month low of $15.40 and a 12-month high of $27.96. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $25.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $23.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $194.69 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.08 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79.

First Community (NASDAQ:FCCO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The bank reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.06. First Community had a return on equity of 10.14% and a net margin of 13.49%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.43 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that First Community will post 2.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Community Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th were issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.35%. First Community’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.15%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on FCCO shares. Raymond James raised shares of First Community from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $27.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Hovde Group boosted their price objective on shares of First Community from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott raised shares of First Community from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th.

First Community Company Profile

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.