First Community (NASDAQ:FCCO) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at Raymond James

Raymond James upgraded shares of First Community (NASDAQ:FCCO) from an outperform rating to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $30.00 price objective on the bank’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $27.00.

First Community Stock Up 5.7 %

FCCO stock opened at $25.97 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $24.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $22.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $198.41 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.37 and a beta of 0.42. First Community has a fifty-two week low of $15.40 and a fifty-two week high of $26.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

First Community (NASDAQ:FCCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The bank reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.06. First Community had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 9.57%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.43 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that First Community will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

First Community Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 4th. First Community’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.50%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Community

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of First Community by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC now owns 182,441 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,379,000 after acquiring an additional 850 shares during the period. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC raised its stake in First Community by 48.1% in the third quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC now owns 39,985 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $857,000 after purchasing an additional 12,985 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its stake in First Community by 214.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 10,046 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $215,000 after purchasing an additional 6,847 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in First Community by 6.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 83,088 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,782,000 after purchasing an additional 5,157 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp grew its stake in First Community by 5.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 22,795 shares of the bank’s stock worth $489,000 after buying an additional 1,200 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.