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

First Community Co. (NASDAQ:FCCO) was the recipient 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. Currently, 0.1% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 15,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.6 days.

First Community Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FCCO remained flat at $25.95 during trading hours on Friday. The company had a trading volume of 182,496 shares, compared to its average volume of 27,658. First Community has a 12-month low of $15.40 and a 12-month high of $26.48. The firm has a market cap of $198.28 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.36 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $24.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $26.73 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.65 million. First Community had a return on equity of 9.57% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.23 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that First Community will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Community Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 12th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 29th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 29th. First Community’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.50%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Community

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of FCCO. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in First Community by 48.1% during the third quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC now owns 39,985 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $857,000 after buying an additional 12,985 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its position in First Community by 214.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 10,046 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $215,000 after acquiring an additional 6,847 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in First Community by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 83,088 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,782,000 after acquiring an additional 5,157 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,200 shares during the period. Finally, Fourthstone LLC raised its position in shares of First Community by 28.9% in the 3rd quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 400,225 shares of the bank’s stock worth $8,581,000 after acquiring an additional 89,652 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 61.25% of the company’s stock.

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.