First Community (NASDAQ:FCCO) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Meets Expectations

First Community (NASDAQ:FCCO) issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The bank reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.34, Yahoo Finance reports. First Community had a return on equity of 9.43% and a net margin of 14.25%.

First Community Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of FCCO opened at $15.95 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $121.70 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.36 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. First Community has a 12 month low of $15.40 and a 12 month high of $22.00. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $16.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.93.

First Community Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 6th were paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 5th. First Community’s dividend payout ratio is 36.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on FCCO. StockNews.com raised First Community from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Raymond James raised First Community from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $21.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 25th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in shares of First Community by 1.1% in the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 409,357 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,678,000 after acquiring an additional 4,305 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of First Community by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 405,949 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,740,000 after acquiring an additional 12,029 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in shares of First Community by 669.9% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 334,490 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,807,000 after acquiring an additional 291,045 shares during the last quarter. Fourthstone LLC raised its stake in shares of First Community by 50.9% in the first quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 280,735 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,952,000 after acquiring an additional 94,705 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of First Community by 93.8% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 133,776 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,322,000 after acquiring an additional 64,743 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 61.25% of the company’s stock.

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.