StockNews.com Lowers First Community (NASDAQ:FCCO) to Sell

StockNews.com cut shares of First Community (NASDAQ:FCCO) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report report published on Thursday.

Separately, Raymond James upgraded shares of First Community from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $21.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 25th.

First Community Price Performance

Shares of FCCO stock opened at $17.27 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $16.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.79. First Community has a one year low of $15.40 and a one year high of $22.00. The firm has a market cap of $131.77 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.08 and a beta of 0.44.

First Community (NASDAQ:FCCO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.34. The business had revenue of $24.44 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.83 million. First Community had a net margin of 12.32% and a return on equity of 8.57%. On average, analysts expect that First Community will post 1.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Community Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th were issued a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 29th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.24%. First Community’s dividend payout ratio is 39.16%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Community

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in shares of First Community by 41.0% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,373 shares of the bank’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 981 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in First Community by 522.1% during the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 3,465 shares of the bank’s stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 2,908 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in First Community in the 1st quarter valued at $239,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Community in the 4th quarter valued at $670,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of First Community by 8.1% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 32,688 shares of the bank’s stock worth $570,000 after acquiring an additional 2,450 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.