First Community Co. (NASDAQ:FCCO) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

First Community Co. (NASDAQ:FCCO) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 115,300 shares, a decline of 16.3% from the February 28th total of 137,800 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 54,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.1 days. Approximately 1.6% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Rhino Investment Partners Inc purchased a new stake in First Community in the fourth quarter worth approximately $6,012,000. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Community by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC now owns 182,441 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,379,000 after buying an additional 850 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in First Community by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 112,430 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,698,000 after acquiring an additional 7,031 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in First Community by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 101,369 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,433,000 after acquiring an additional 5,200 shares during the period. Finally, Susquehanna International Group LLP boosted its position in First Community by 183.1% in the fourth quarter. Susquehanna International Group LLP now owns 91,733 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,202,000 after purchasing an additional 59,335 shares during the last quarter. 61.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on FCCO. Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded shares of First Community from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Hovde Group upped their price objective on shares of First Community from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Raymond James upgraded shares of First Community from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $27.00 to $30.00 in a report on Thursday, January 23rd.

First Community Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FCCO traded up $0.23 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $22.70. 23,222 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 36,530. The stock has a market cap of $174.13 million, a P/E ratio of 12.54 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $24.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $23.96. First Community has a 52-week low of $15.40 and a 52-week high of $27.96.

First Community (NASDAQ:FCCO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The bank reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.06. First Community had a return on equity of 10.14% and a net margin of 13.49%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.43 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that First Community will post 2.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Community Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 4th. First Community’s payout ratio is presently 33.15%.

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.