First Community (NASDAQ:FCCO) Share Price Passes Above 200 Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

First Community Corporation (NASDAQ:FCCO)’s share price passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $26.08 and traded as high as $29.40. First Community shares last traded at $29.10, with a volume of 22,790 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on FCCO shares. Zacks Research lowered First Community from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Community in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $29.67.

First Community Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $223.78 million, a PE ratio of 12.13 and a beta of 0.51. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.08.

First Community (NASDAQ:FCCO) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 30th. The bank reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. First Community had a net margin of 16.69% and a return on equity of 12.70%. The company had revenue of $13.86 million during the quarter. As a group, equities analysts forecast that First Community Corporation will post 2.28 earnings per share for the current year.

First Community Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 4th were paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 4th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. First Community’s payout ratio is 26.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other First Community news, Director Roderick M. Todd, Jr. sold 1,679 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.00, for a total transaction of $47,012.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 11,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $332,248. This trade represents a 12.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 5.92% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Community

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fourthstone LLC raised its stake in First Community by 193.6% during the second quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 559,185 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $13,633,000 after purchasing an additional 368,747 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in First Community by 115.5% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 195,527 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,411,000 after buying an additional 104,796 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in First Community by 103.4% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 174,732 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,260,000 after buying an additional 88,807 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in First Community by 199.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 90,919 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,051,000 after acquiring an additional 60,596 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First Community in the second quarter valued at $992,000. Hedge funds and other 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.