First Community Corporation (NASDAQ:FCCO) Short Interest Update

First Community Corporation (NASDAQ:FCCO) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of June. As of June 30th, there was short interest totaling 174,848 shares, a growth of 184.3% from the June 15th total of 61,511 shares. Approximately 2.0% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 147,140 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.2 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Community

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in First Community in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $8,430,000. Maltese Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of First Community by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Maltese Capital Management LLC now owns 252,500 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,487,000 after acquiring an additional 12,769 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of First Community by 11.3% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 205,992 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,021,000 after acquiring an additional 20,970 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of First Community by 115.5% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 195,527 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,411,000 after acquiring an additional 104,796 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of First Community by 103.4% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 174,732 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,260,000 after acquiring an additional 88,807 shares in the last quarter. 61.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First Community Trading Down 0.8%

FCCO traded down $0.27 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $32.31. 11,911 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 81,080. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $31.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $30.15. First Community has a 1-year low of $24.12 and a 1-year high of $34.01. The company has a market cap of $303.76 million, a PE ratio of 12.67 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

First Community (NASDAQ:FCCO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $23.16 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.61 million. First Community had a return on equity of 13.00% and a net margin of 17.29%. Equities analysts forecast that First Community will post 2.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Community Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 19th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 5th were issued a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 5th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. First Community’s payout ratio is 25.10%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Community in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.00.

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.