Short Interest in First Community Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCBC) Rises By 5.3%

First Community Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:FCBC) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 145,600 shares, an increase of 5.3% from the May 31st total of 138,300 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 27,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.4 days. Currently, 0.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Institutional Trading of First Community Bankshares

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of First Community Bankshares by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 965,956 shares of the bank’s stock worth $35,838,000 after purchasing an additional 5,446 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in First Community Bankshares by 12.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 916,310 shares of the bank’s stock worth $31,732,000 after acquiring an additional 102,183 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in First Community Bankshares by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 132,477 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,901,000 after acquiring an additional 3,554 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in First Community Bankshares by 34.3% in the 4th quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 42,379 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,572,000 after acquiring an additional 10,824 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in First Community Bankshares by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Summit Financial Group Inc. now owns 38,442 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,426,000 after acquiring an additional 990 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 34.95% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on FCBC. Hovde Group started coverage on First Community Bankshares in a report on Friday, June 28th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $38.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com raised shares of First Community Bankshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 27th.

First Community Bankshares Trading Down 1.5 %

FCBC traded down $0.55 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $36.10. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 18,590 shares, compared to its average volume of 31,066. The firm has a market cap of $662.44 million, a P/E ratio of 13.32 and a beta of 0.52. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $34.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $34.31. First Community Bankshares has a 52-week low of $28.13 and a 52-week high of $39.23.

First Community Bankshares (NASDAQ:FCBC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The bank reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $40.89 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.72 million. First Community Bankshares had a return on equity of 11.04% and a net margin of 27.10%. On average, equities analysts expect that First Community Bankshares will post 2.59 EPS for the current year.

First Community Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th were issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. First Community Bankshares’s payout ratio is currently 42.80%.

First Community Bankshares Company Profile

First Community Bankshares, Inc operates as the financial holding company for First Community Bank that provides various banking products and services. It offers demand deposit accounts, savings and money market accounts, certificates of deposit, and individual retirement plans; and commercial, consumer real estate, and consumer and other loans.