First Community Co. (FCCO) To Go Ex-Dividend on April 29th

First Community Co. (NASDAQ:FCCO) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 16th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of 0.14 per share by the bank on Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th.

First Community has raised its dividend payment by an average of 5.3% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 2 years. First Community has a dividend payout ratio of 30.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect First Community to earn $1.84 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.56 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 30.4%.

First Community Stock Performance

FCCO stock opened at $16.77 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $16.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $127.96 million, a PE ratio of 11.73 and a beta of 0.43. First Community has a fifty-two week low of $15.40 and a fifty-two week high of $22.00. 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 (NASDAQ:FCCO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.34. The company 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%. Analysts forecast that First Community will post 1.54 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on FCCO shares. Raymond James upgraded shares of First Community from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $21.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. StockNews.com cut shares of First Community from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th.

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.