Short Interest in First National Co. (NASDAQ:FXNC) Declines By 5.6%

First National Co. (NASDAQ:FXNC) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,700 shares, a drop of 5.6% from the October 31st total of 7,100 shares. Currently, 0.1% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 10,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.7 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on FXNC shares. Janney Montgomery Scott downgraded First National from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Hovde Group assumed coverage on First National in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $22.00 target price on the stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First National

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of First National by 8.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 50,401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $882,000 after acquiring an additional 3,789 shares in the last quarter. Fourthstone LLC lifted its position in shares of First National by 0.3% in the third quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 627,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,981,000 after acquiring an additional 1,814 shares in the last quarter. De Lisle Partners LLP lifted its position in shares of First National by 41.3% in the third quarter. De Lisle Partners LLP now owns 35,895 shares of the company’s stock valued at $642,000 after acquiring an additional 10,500 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. purchased a new position in shares of First National in the third quarter valued at about $88,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of First National by 5.2% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 13,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $237,000 after acquiring an additional 670 shares in the last quarter. 33.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First National Price Performance

NASDAQ FXNC opened at $24.94 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $223.71 million, a PE ratio of 22.27 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The business’s fifty day moving average is $21.29 and its 200 day moving average is $18.09. First National has a fifty-two week low of $14.50 and a fifty-two week high of $25.41.

First National (NASDAQ:FXNC) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.36. The company had revenue of $20.65 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.40 million. First National had a return on equity of 6.52% and a net margin of 8.91%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.50 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that First National will post 1.86 earnings per share for the current year.

First National Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a $0.155 dividend. This represents a $0.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.49%. This is an increase from First National’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. First National’s payout ratio is presently 55.36%.

About First National

First National Corporation operates as the bank holding company for First Bank that provides various commercial banking services to small and medium-sized businesses, individuals, estates, local governmental entities, and non-profit organizations in Virginia. The company's deposit products include checking, savings, money market, and individual retirement accounts, as well as certificates of deposit and treasury management solutions.