First Community Co. (NASDAQ:FCCO) Announces Dividend Increase – $0.15 Per Share

First Community Co. (NASDAQ:FCCO) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, July 16th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 30th will be paid a dividend of 0.15 per share by the bank on Tuesday, August 13th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 30th. This is a positive change from First Community’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14.

First Community has increased its dividend by an average of 5.3% annually over the last three years. First Community has a dividend payout ratio of 31.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect First Community to earn $2.00 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 30.0%.

First Community Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of First Community stock opened at $22.75 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $173.58 million, a P/E ratio of 15.91 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. First Community has a 12-month low of $15.40 and a 12-month high of $23.30. The business’s 50 day moving average is $17.71 and its 200-day moving average is $17.34.

First Community (NASDAQ:FCCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The bank reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.05. First Community had a net margin of 11.60% and a return on equity of 8.44%. The firm had revenue of $25.57 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.42 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.43 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that First Community will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of 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.