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

First Community Co. (NASDAQ:FCCO) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 30,600 shares, an increase of 81.1% from the December 31st total of 16,900 shares. Approximately 0.4% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 22,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.3 days.

First Community Trading Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ FCCO opened at $26.00 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $198.64 million, a PE ratio of 14.36 and a beta of 0.42. First Community has a 12 month low of $15.40 and a 12 month high of $27.28. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $24.78 and a 200-day moving average of $22.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

First Community (NASDAQ:FCCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The bank reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.06. First Community had a net margin of 13.49% and a return on equity of 10.14%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.43 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that First Community will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Community Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 4th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.31%. First Community’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.15%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Community

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new position in First Community in the 2nd quarter valued at about $58,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of First Community in the second quarter valued at approximately $190,000. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of First Community by 214.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 10,046 shares of the bank’s stock worth $215,000 after purchasing an additional 6,847 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new stake in First Community in the 2nd quarter valued at $261,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in First Community in the 3rd quarter valued at $289,000. 61.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FCCO has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James raised shares of First Community from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $27.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Hovde Group raised their price objective on First Community from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd.

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.