First Community Co. (NASDAQ:FCCO) Short Interest Update

First Community Co. (NASDAQ:FCCO) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 10,200 shares, a decline of 5.6% from the September 15th total of 10,800 shares. Approximately 0.2% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 20,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.5 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded First Community from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 1st.

First Community Trading Up 8.4 %

NASDAQ FCCO opened at $23.16 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $176.69 million, a PE ratio of 16.20 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $21.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.89. First Community has a 12 month low of $15.40 and a 12 month high of $23.76.

First Community (NASDAQ:FCCO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The bank reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $26.73 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.65 million. First Community had a return on equity of 8.33% and a net margin of 11.60%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.23 EPS. On average, analysts expect that First Community will post 1.69 EPS for the current year.

First Community Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 29th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 29th. First Community’s dividend payout ratio is 41.96%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FCCO. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Community in the 2nd quarter valued at about $49,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new position in First Community during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $58,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in First Community by 41.0% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,373 shares of the bank’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 981 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in First Community during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $190,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in First Community during the 1st quarter worth approximately $239,000. 61.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.