First Community Co. (NASDAQ:FCCO) Short Interest Up 32.0% in November

First Community Co. (NASDAQ:FCCO) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 9,900 shares, a growth of 32.0% from the November 15th total of 7,500 shares. Approximately 0.1% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 15,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.6 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Community

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Independent Advisor Alliance boosted its holdings in shares of First Community by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 105,945 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,271,000 after buying an additional 690 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Value Bank Partners LLC raised its position in First Community by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Strategic Value Bank Partners LLC now owns 291,998 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,037,000 after purchasing an additional 975 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in First Community by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 22,795 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $489,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares during the last quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in First Community in the 2nd quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in First Community by 0.8% during the 1st 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 last quarter. 61.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Community Stock Performance

Shares of FCCO stock remained flat at $25.95 during trading hours on Friday. 182,496 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 27,658. First Community has a 52-week low of $15.40 and a 52-week high of $26.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $24.05 and its 200-day moving average is $21.25. The company has a market cap of $198.28 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.36 and a beta of 0.40.

First Community (NASDAQ:FCCO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The bank reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.06. First Community had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 9.57%. The firm had revenue of $26.73 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.65 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.23 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that First Community will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

First Community Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 29th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 29th. First Community’s payout ratio is currently 35.50%.

First Community Company 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.