Short Interest in First Community Corporation (NASDAQ:FCCO) Declines By 62.3%

First Community Corporation (NASDAQ:FCCO) saw a large decline in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totaling 66,746 shares, a decline of 62.3% from the December 31st total of 176,821 shares. Approximately 0.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 53,909 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.2 days. Based on an average daily volume of 53,909 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.2 days. Approximately 0.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Community during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. CWM LLC acquired a new position in First Community during the third quarter worth $31,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in First Community by 324.2% during the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,349 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 1,031 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in First Community by 116.2% during the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,405 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 755 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey acquired a new stake in shares of First Community in the second quarter worth about $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.25% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting First Community

Here are the key news stories impacting First Community this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results beat: FCCO reported $0.69 EPS vs. $0.68 consensus and revenue of $20.6M vs. $20.25M; net income was $4.83M for Q4 and $19.205M for the year, with a 12.46% ROE and 16.69% net margin — results that justify the positive market reaction. PR Newswire: Q4 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend declared: the board approved a $0.16 quarterly cash dividend (annualized yield ~2.2%), record/ex-dividend date Feb 10 and payable Feb 24 — a cash return that supports income-focused investors. PR Newswire: Dividend Announcement
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst/commentary support: recent coverage highlights strong asset quality and maintains a buy view, which likely adds conviction to the rally. Seeking Alpha: Buy Rating
• Positive Sentiment: Evidence of short-covering earlier in January: short interest fell to 66,746 shares as of Jan 15 (down ~62% from Dec 31), lowering short-pressure and removing a potential headwind for the share price.
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks coverage and analysis offer context on Q4 metrics and the beat vs. estimates — useful for investors digging into the details but not new catalyst information. Zacks: Tops Q4 Estimates Zacks: Key Metrics
• Neutral Sentiment: Pre-earnings commentary and previews (e.g., Yahoo Finance) circulated earlier and provided expectations context but did not add a new catalyst. Yahoo Finance: Q4 Preview
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest reporting anomaly on Jan 28 shows 0 shares (NaN change and 0.0 days-to-cover) — treat that data point as unreliable; earlier Jan 15 data showing a sharp decline is the more meaningful indicator of short-covering.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FCCO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Community in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Zacks Research downgraded First Community from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.50.

First Community Stock Up 0.4%

NASDAQ:FCCO traded up $0.11 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $28.96. 19,517 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 69,983. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $29.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.81. The firm has a market cap of $222.66 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.06 and a beta of 0.38. First Community has a fifty-two week low of $19.46 and a fifty-two week high of $31.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

First Community (NASDAQ:FCCO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The bank reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $20.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.25 million. First Community had a return on equity of 12.46% and a net margin of 16.69%. Equities research analysts anticipate that First Community will post 2.28 earnings per share for the current year.

First Community Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 10th will be issued a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 10th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. First Community’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.67%.

About First Community

First Community Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: FCCO) is the bank holding company for First Community Bank, a full-service commercial bank headquartered in Bluefield, West Virginia. Through its subsidiary, the company delivers a comprehensive range of financial services to individuals, small businesses and larger commercial clients. Its operations are focused on community banking, with an emphasis on personalized relationship management and local decision-making.

The company’s core offerings include deposit products such as checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit and money market accounts, as well as consumer and commercial lending solutions.