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

First Community Co. (NASDAQ:FCCO) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 208,600 shares, a growth of 7.4% from the May 31st total of 194,200 shares. Currently, 3.0% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 30,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.8 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Community

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FCCO. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in First Community by 41.0% during the 1st 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 grew its holdings in shares of First Community by 522.1% in the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 3,465 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 2,908 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in shares of First Community in the 1st quarter valued at about $239,000. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of First Community by 8.1% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 32,688 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $570,000 after acquiring an additional 2,450 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of First Community in the 4th quarter valued at about $670,000. Institutional investors own 61.25% of the company’s stock.

First Community Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of FCCO stock traded down $0.31 on Wednesday, hitting $16.30. The stock had a trading volume of 9,363 shares, compared to its average volume of 33,174. The firm has a market cap of $124.35 million, a P/E ratio of 11.40 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. First Community has a twelve month low of $15.40 and a twelve month high of $22.00. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $16.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.51.

First Community (NASDAQ:FCCO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34. The firm had revenue of $24.44 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.83 million. First Community had a return on equity of 8.57% and a net margin of 12.32%. As a group, analysts forecast that First Community will post 1.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Community Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th were issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 29th. First Community’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of First Community from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday.

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.