First Community (NASDAQ:FCCO) Lifted to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of First Community (NASDAQ:FCCO) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Monday.

First Community Price Performance

Shares of FCCO opened at $16.30 on Monday. First Community has a 1-year low of $15.40 and a 1-year high of $22.00. The stock has a market cap of $124.37 million, a PE ratio of 11.40 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $16.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.51.

First Community (NASDAQ:FCCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34. First Community had a net margin of 12.32% and a return on equity of 8.57%. The firm had revenue of $24.44 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.83 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that First Community will post 1.54 EPS for the current year.

First Community Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th were issued a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 29th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.44%. First Community’s payout ratio is 39.16%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Community

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in shares of First Community by 41.0% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,373 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 981 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its holdings in First Community by 522.1% during the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 3,465 shares of the bank’s stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 2,908 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in First Community during the first quarter worth about $239,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in First Community during the fourth quarter worth about $670,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in First Community by 8.1% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 32,688 shares of the bank’s stock worth $570,000 after purchasing an additional 2,450 shares in the last quarter. 61.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.