First Community (NASDAQ:FCCO) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Meets Estimates

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

First Community Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FCCO opened at $15.95 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $16.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $121.70 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.15 and a beta of 0.43. 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 12 month low of $15.40 and a 12 month high of $22.00.

First Community Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend 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

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FCCO. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in shares of First Community by 31.4% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 51,604 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,094,000 after acquiring an additional 12,340 shares in the last quarter. Fourthstone LLC raised its position in shares of First Community by 50.9% during the 1st quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 280,735 shares of the bank’s stock worth $5,952,000 after purchasing an additional 94,705 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of First Community by 8.6% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,755 shares of the bank’s stock worth $376,000 after purchasing an additional 1,413 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of First Community by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 409,357 shares of the bank’s stock worth $8,678,000 after purchasing an additional 4,305 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG raised its position in shares of First Community by 314.7% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,833 shares of the bank’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,391 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on FCCO. Raymond James raised First Community from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $21.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 25th. StockNews.com raised First Community from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th.

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.