Short Interest in First Community Corporation (NASDAQ:FCCO) Expands By 32.9%

Key Points

• Short interest rose 32.9% in April to 90,304 shares (about 1.1% of the float), with a days-to-cover ratio of roughly 1.1 days.
• Significant institutional buying was reported, including a new ~$8.43M position by Fifth Third Wealth Advisors and large increases from Millennium and Geode, leaving 61.25% of the stock held by institutions.
• First Community beat quarterly EPS estimates at $0.72 (vs. $0.64), announced a quarterly dividend of $0.16 (annualized $0.64, ~2.1% yield), and carries a consensus analyst price target of $34 ("Moderate Buy").

First Community Corporation (NASDAQ:FCCO - Get Free Report) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 90,304 shares, an increase of 32.9% from the March 31st total of 67,933 shares. Approximately 1.1% of the company's shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 83,859 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.1 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FCCO. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Community during the first quarter valued at approximately $8,430,000. Maltese Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of First Community by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Maltese Capital Management LLC now owns 252,500 shares of the bank's stock worth $7,487,000 after acquiring an additional 12,769 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in First Community by 115.5% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 195,527 shares of the bank's stock valued at $4,411,000 after acquiring an additional 104,796 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in First Community by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 185,022 shares of the bank's stock valued at $5,486,000 after acquiring an additional 12,902 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in First Community by 103.4% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 174,732 shares of the bank's stock valued at $4,260,000 after acquiring an additional 88,807 shares during the period. 61.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

First Community Price Performance

Shares of First Community stock opened at $30.19 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $283.18 million, a PE ratio of 11.84 and a beta of 0.34. First Community has a 52-week low of $21.80 and a 52-week high of $31.51. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.13.

First Community (NASDAQ:FCCO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The bank reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.08. First Community had a net margin of 17.29% and a return on equity of 14.19%. The firm had revenue of $23.16 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $23.61 million. On average, analysts anticipate that First Community will post 2.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First Community Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 5th will be issued a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 5th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. First Community's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.10%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FCCO has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Hovde Group boosted their price target on shares of First Community from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of First Community in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $34.00.

First Community Company Profile

First Community Financial Corp. NASDAQ: FCCO is the bank holding company for First Community Bank, a full-service commercial bank headquartered in Bluefield, West Virginia. Through its subsidiary, the company delivers a comprehensive range of financial services to individuals, small businesses and larger commercial clients. Its operations are focused on community banking, with an emphasis on personalized relationship management and local decision-making.

The company's core offerings include deposit products such as checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit and money market accounts, as well as consumer and commercial lending solutions.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.