Short Interest in First Community Co. (NASDAQ:FCCO) Increases By 7.4%

First Community Co. (NASDAQ:FCCO) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 208,600 shares, a growth of 7.4% from the May 31st total of 194,200 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 30,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.8 days. Currently, 3.0% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of First Community from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday.

Institutional Trading of First Community

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Anchor Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in First Community during the fourth quarter worth about $670,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in First Community in the first quarter valued at approximately $239,000. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in First Community by 4.6% in the first quarter. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC now owns 187,046 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,260,000 after buying an additional 8,275 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in First Community by 18.9% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 44,150 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $770,000 after buying an additional 7,003 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in First Community by 0.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 409,203 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,132,000 after buying an additional 3,254 shares during the period. 61.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First Community Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FCCO opened at $16.30 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $16.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.51. First Community has a 52 week low of $15.40 and a 52 week high of $22.00. The company has a market cap of $124.37 million, a P/E ratio of 11.40 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

First Community (NASDAQ:FCCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.34. First Community had a return on equity of 8.57% and a net margin of 12.32%. The company had revenue of $24.44 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.83 million. Equities research analysts forecast that First Community will post 1.54 EPS for the current year.

First Community Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th were issued a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 29th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.44%. First Community’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.16%.

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.