First Community (NASDAQ:FCCO) Upgraded by Janney Montgomery Scott to Buy Rating

First Community (NASDAQ:FCCO) was upgraded by research analysts at Janney Montgomery Scott from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The firm currently has a $30.00 price objective on the bank’s stock. Janney Montgomery Scott’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 18.02% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the company. Raymond James raised First Community from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $27.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Hovde Group raised their price objective on First Community from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd.

First Community Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ FCCO opened at $25.42 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $194.21 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.04 and a beta of 0.42. First Community has a 12 month low of $15.40 and a 12 month high of $27.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $24.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $23.07.

First Community (NASDAQ:FCCO) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The bank reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.06. First Community had a return on equity of 10.14% and a net margin of 13.49%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.43 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that First Community will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of First Community

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Global Retirement Partners LLC bought a new stake in First Community during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC purchased a new position in First Community in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of First Community by 214.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 10,046 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $215,000 after buying an additional 6,847 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of First Community in the third quarter worth $289,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new position in shares of First Community in the second quarter worth approximately $261,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.25% of the company’s stock.

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.