First Carolina Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:FCBM) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

First Carolina Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE:FCBM) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of August. As of August 14th, there was short interest totaling 62,061 shares, a growth of 101.0% from the July 30th total of 30,870 shares. Currently, 0.2% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 93,632 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.7 days.

First Carolina Financial Services Stock Down 0.6%

NYSE:FCBM traded down $0.07 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $12.62. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 93,288 shares, compared to its average volume of 96,176. First Carolina Financial Services has a fifty-two week low of $12.17 and a fifty-two week high of $13.40. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $12.69.

First Carolina Financial Services (NYSE:FCBM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $32.26 million for the quarter. On average, research analysts expect that First Carolina Financial Services will post 0.95 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Carolina Financial Services

In related news, Director John Jethro Ferebee, Jr. bought 7,100 shares of First Carolina Financial Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $12.51 per share, for a total transaction of $88,821.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 7,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $88,821. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director James A. Lucas, Jr. bought 16,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $12.50 per share, for a total transaction of $200,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 439,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,498,550. This represents a 3.77% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have acquired 116,655 shares of company stock valued at $1,458,258 in the last three months.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on FCBM. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on First Carolina Financial Services in a research report on Monday, July 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $15.00 price objective on the stock. Zacks Research raised First Carolina Financial Services to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of First Carolina Financial Services to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 27th. Finally, Hovde Group assumed coverage on shares of First Carolina Financial Services in a report on Friday, July 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $14.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, First Carolina Financial Services has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $14.50.

About First Carolina Financial Services

First Carolina Financial Service Inc operates as a bank holding company, through its subsidiaries, provides commercial and consumer banking, payment, finance and wealth management services. First Carolina Financial Service Inc is based in Raleigh, North Carolina.