Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Increases Holdings in First Community Co. (NASDAQ:FCCO)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of First Community Co. (NASDAQ:FCCO) by 57.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,282 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,788 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned 0.28% of First Community worth $511,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new position in First Community in the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in First Community by 214.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 10,046 shares of the bank’s stock worth $215,000 after buying an additional 6,847 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in First Community by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 22,795 shares of the bank’s stock worth $489,000 after buying an additional 1,200 shares in the last quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in First Community by 48.1% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC now owns 39,985 shares of the bank’s stock worth $857,000 after buying an additional 12,985 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of First Community by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 83,088 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,782,000 after purchasing an additional 5,157 shares in the last quarter. 61.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James upgraded shares of First Community from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $27.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Hovde Group upped their target price on shares of First Community from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded shares of First Community from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th.

First Community Price Performance

NASDAQ FCCO opened at $22.11 on Friday. First Community Co. has a 52 week low of $15.40 and a 52 week high of $27.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market cap of $169.61 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.22 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $24.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.88.

First Community (NASDAQ:FCCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The bank reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.06. First Community had a net margin of 13.49% and a return on equity of 10.14%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.43 EPS. Analysts forecast that First Community Co. will post 2.28 EPS for the current year.

First Community Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 4th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 4th. First Community’s dividend payout ratio is 33.15%.

First Community Profile

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.