First National Co. (NASDAQ:FXNC) Announces Dividend Increase – $0.16 Per Share

First National Co. (NASDAQ:FXNC) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, November 18th,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a dividend of 0.155 per share on Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This is a boost from First National’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15.

First National has raised its dividend payment by an average of 10.9% annually over the last three years. First National has a payout ratio of 25.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect First National to earn $2.25 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 26.7%.

First National Stock Down 2.1 %

FXNC traded down $0.50 on Monday, reaching $23.30. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 21,497 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,932. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. First National has a fifty-two week low of $14.50 and a fifty-two week high of $24.59. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $19.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $17.32. The company has a market capitalization of $146.32 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.25 and a beta of 0.49.

First National (NASDAQ:FXNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36. First National had a return on equity of 6.62% and a net margin of 8.91%. The firm had revenue of $20.65 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.40 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.50 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that First National will post 1.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FXNC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Janney Montgomery Scott raised First National from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $21.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Hovde Group assumed coverage on First National in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $22.00 price objective on the 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.