De Lisle Partners LLP Has $642,000 Holdings in First National Co. (NASDAQ:FXNC)

De Lisle Partners LLP raised its holdings in First National Co. (NASDAQ:FXNC) by 41.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 35,895 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 10,500 shares during the period. De Lisle Partners LLP’s holdings in First National were worth $642,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in FXNC. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. bought a new stake in First National in the 3rd quarter valued at $88,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of First National by 13.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 13,882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $211,000 after purchasing an additional 1,595 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of First National by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 13,530 shares of the company’s stock worth $237,000 after buying an additional 670 shares during the last quarter. 33.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on FXNC. Hovde Group began coverage on shares of First National in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $22.00 price target on the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott upgraded First National from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $21.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 1st.

First National Trading Up 1.8 %

FXNC stock opened at $24.78 on Friday. First National Co. has a 52 week low of $14.50 and a 52 week high of $24.92. The company has a market capitalization of $222.28 million, a PE ratio of 22.13 and a beta of 0.49. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $20.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85.

First National (NASDAQ:FXNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36. First National had a net margin of 8.91% and a return on equity of 6.52%. The firm had revenue of $20.65 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.40 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.50 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that First National Co. will post 1.86 earnings per share for the current year.

First National Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of $0.155 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.50%. This is an increase from First National’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. First National’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.36%.

First National Profile

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.