First National Co. (NASDAQ:FXNC) Shares Bought by Empowered Funds LLC

Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of First National Co. (NASDAQ:FXNC) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,130 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 600 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC owned 0.16% of First National worth $325,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Fourthstone LLC increased its stake in shares of First National by 0.3% in the third quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 627,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,981,000 after acquiring an additional 1,814 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in First National by 8.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 50,401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $882,000 after purchasing an additional 3,789 shares during the last quarter. De Lisle Partners LLP grew its position in First National by 41.3% during the 3rd quarter. De Lisle Partners LLP now owns 35,895 shares of the company’s stock worth $642,000 after purchasing an additional 10,500 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of First National during the 4th quarter valued at about $678,000. Finally, Founders Grove Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of First National during the 4th quarter valued at about $252,000. 33.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on FXNC shares. Hovde Group downgraded First National from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $28.50 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Janney Montgomery Scott lowered First National from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th.

First National Stock Down 1.6 %

FXNC opened at $25.40 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $24.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. First National Co. has a fifty-two week low of $14.50 and a fifty-two week high of $26.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $227.84 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.90 and a beta of 0.54.

First National (NASDAQ:FXNC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.19. First National had a return on equity of 12.09% and a net margin of 7.51%. On average, research analysts expect that First National Co. will post 2.25 earnings per share for the current year.

First National Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.155 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.44%. First National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.45%.

About First National

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.