First National (NASDAQ:FXNC) Stock Price Down 0.5% – Here’s What Happened

First National Corp. (NASDAQ:FXNC)’s stock price fell 0.5% on Monday . The stock traded as low as $29.26 and last traded at $29.31. 141,015 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 94% from the average session volume of 72,638 shares. The stock had previously closed at $29.45.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Weiss Ratings upgraded First National from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, March 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, First National presently has a consensus rating of “Buy”.

First National Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.53. The firm has a market cap of $256.37 million, a PE ratio of 14.40 and a beta of 0.50.

First National (NASDAQ:FXNC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.02. First National had a return on equity of 10.82% and a net margin of 15.19%.The business had revenue of $23.97 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.60 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that First National Corp. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First National Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 27th were paid a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 27th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. First National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.52%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other First National news, CFO Brad E. Schwartz bought 1,000 shares of First National stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $26.91 per share, for a total transaction of $26,910.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer directly owned 6,470 shares in the company, valued at approximately $174,107.70. This trade represents a 18.28% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 14.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of First National

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of First National by 15.9% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 29,801 shares of the company’s stock valued at $752,000 after buying an additional 4,086 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in shares of First National by 50.8% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 31,699 shares of the company’s stock valued at $617,000 after buying an additional 10,685 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of First National by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 19,614 shares of the company’s stock valued at $495,000 after buying an additional 1,837 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of First National by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 11,069 shares of the company’s stock valued at $279,000 after buying an additional 610 shares during the period. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in shares of First National by 9.5% during the third quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 11,197 shares of the company’s stock valued at $254,000 after buying an additional 974 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.92% of the company’s stock.

First National Company Profile

First National Corporation operates as the bank holding company for First Bank that provides various commercial banking services to small and medium-sized businesses, individuals, estates, local governmental entities, and non-profit organizations in Virginia. The company's deposit products include checking, savings, money market, and individual retirement accounts, as well as certificates of deposit and treasury management solutions. Its loan products comprise construction loans, including residential, land acquisition, and development loans; 1-4 family residential real estate loans; and commercial real estate loans that are secured by commercial real estate, including multi-family residential buildings, office and retail buildings, hotels, industrial buildings, and religious facilities.