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

First Community Co. (NASDAQ:FCCO) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 19,800 shares, a growth of 10.0% from the July 15th total of 18,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 46,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.4 days. Currently, 0.3% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of First Community from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 1st.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Community

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in First Community by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 409,203 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,132,000 after acquiring an additional 3,254 shares during the period. Strategic Value Bank Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of First Community by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Strategic Value Bank Partners LLC now owns 291,998 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,037,000 after buying an additional 975 shares during the period. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC grew its stake in First Community by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC now owns 187,046 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,260,000 after buying an additional 8,275 shares during the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC raised its holdings in First Community by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 79,671 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,389,000 after acquiring an additional 1,050 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in First Community by 18.9% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 44,150 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $770,000 after acquiring an additional 7,003 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.25% of the company’s stock.

First Community Stock Up 1.7 %

FCCO stock traded up $0.36 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $21.29. The company had a trading volume of 11,837 shares, compared to its average volume of 31,958. First Community has a 52 week low of $15.40 and a 52 week high of $23.30. The company has a market capitalization of $162.42 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.89 and a beta of 0.43. 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 has a 50 day simple moving average of $18.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.57.

First Community (NASDAQ:FCCO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.05. First Community had a net margin of 11.60% and a return on equity of 8.44%. The business had revenue of $25.57 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.42 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.43 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that First Community will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Community Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 30th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This is an increase from First Community’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 30th. First Community’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.96%.

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.