First Community (NASDAQ:FCCO) Announces Earnings Results, Meets Expectations

First Community (NASDAQ:FCCO) issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The bank reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34, Yahoo Finance reports. The firm had revenue of $24.44 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.83 million. First Community had a net margin of 12.32% and a return on equity of 8.69%.

First Community Price Performance

FCCO stock opened at $15.95 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.77. First Community has a 52-week low of $15.40 and a 52-week high of $22.00. The company has a 50-day moving average of $16.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $17.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $121.70 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.15 and a beta of 0.43.

First Community Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 29th. First Community’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.16%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Community

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of First Community by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 69,040 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,511,000 after buying an additional 704 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of First Community by 0.8% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 105,815 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,116,000 after buying an additional 852 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of First Community by 4.2% in the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 22,308 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $387,000 after buying an additional 904 shares during the period. Ancora Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of First Community by 3.5% in the first quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 34,991 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $700,000 after buying an additional 1,170 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Group AG lifted its stake in shares of First Community by 314.7% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,833 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 1,391 shares during the period. 61.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on FCCO. Raymond James upgraded shares of First Community from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $21.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, January 25th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of First Community from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th.

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.