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

First Community Co. (NASDAQ:FCCO) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 9,900 shares, an increase of 32.0% from the November 15th total of 7,500 shares. Currently, 0.1% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 15,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.6 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Community

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fourthstone LLC boosted its holdings in First Community by 28.9% during the third quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 400,225 shares of the bank’s stock worth $8,581,000 after buying an additional 89,652 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Community in the second quarter worth about $261,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of First Community during the 3rd quarter worth about $289,000. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of First Community by 48.1% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC now owns 39,985 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $857,000 after acquiring an additional 12,985 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of First Community in the 2nd quarter valued at about $190,000. 61.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First Community Stock Performance

NASDAQ FCCO remained flat at $25.95 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 quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market cap of $198.28 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.36 and a beta of 0.40. The business has a fifty day moving average of $24.05 and a 200 day moving average of $21.22.

First Community (NASDAQ:FCCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The bank reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.06. First Community had a return on equity of 9.57% and a net margin of 12.99%. The business had revenue of $26.73 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.65 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.23 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that First Community will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Community Announces Dividend

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

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.