First Community (NASDAQ:FCCO) Lowered to “Sell” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of First Community (NASDAQ:FCCO) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

Separately, Raymond James raised shares of First Community from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $21.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 25th.

First Community Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of FCCO stock opened at $16.00 on Friday. First Community has a 1 year low of $15.40 and a 1 year high of $22.00. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $16.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $122.08 million, a P/E ratio of 11.19 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

First Community (NASDAQ:FCCO) last announced 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 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 8.69%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that First Community will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

First Community Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. First Community’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.16%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Community

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in First Community by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 405,949 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,740,000 after buying an additional 12,029 shares during the period. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Community in the 4th quarter valued at $138,000. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of First Community by 188.5% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 13,281 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $286,000 after purchasing an additional 8,677 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Community in the 4th quarter valued at $218,000. Finally, Strategic Value Bank Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Community by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Value Bank Partners LLC now owns 290,114 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,246,000 after purchasing an additional 892 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 61.25% of the company’s stock.

First Community Company Profile

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.