First Community Co. (NASDAQ:FCCO) Announces $0.15 Quarterly Dividend

First Community Co. (NASDAQ:FCCO) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, October 15th, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 29th will be given a dividend of 0.15 per share by the bank on Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 29th.

First Community has raised its dividend payment by an average of 5.3% annually over the last three years. First Community has a payout ratio of 29.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect First Community to earn $2.05 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 29.3%.

First Community Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of FCCO traded up $0.05 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $23.21. 9,459 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 28,666. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.77. First Community has a 52 week low of $15.40 and a 52 week high of $23.76. The company has a market cap of $177.07 million, a PE ratio of 16.23 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $21.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.89.

First Community (NASDAQ:FCCO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The bank reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $26.73 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.65 million. First Community had a net margin of 11.60% and a return on equity of 8.33%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.23 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that First Community will post 1.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded First Community from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 1st.

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.