First National Corp. $FXNC Position Raised by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of First National Corp. (NASDAQ:FXNC) by 68.7% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 50,267 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,466 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in First National were worth $1,353,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of FXNC. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in First National in the 1st quarter valued at about $650,000. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of First National by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 19,614 shares of the company’s stock worth $495,000 after purchasing an additional 1,837 shares in the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of First National by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 50,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,272,000 after purchasing an additional 1,837 shares during the period. Piedmont Capital Management LLC NC acquired a new position in shares of First National during the fourth quarter valued at $1,084,000. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of First National by 19.9% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 16,825 shares of the company’s stock valued at $425,000 after purchasing an additional 2,791 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 33.92% of the company’s stock.

First National Stock Down 0.9%

FXNC stock opened at $31.88 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $288.20 million, a PE ratio of 13.28 and a beta of 0.42. First National Corp. has a 1 year low of $21.58 and a 1 year high of $33.24. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

First National (NASDAQ:FXNC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $23.93 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.45 million. First National had a return on equity of 11.62% and a net margin of 18.43%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that First National Corp. will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First National Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 28th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. First National’s payout ratio is currently 28.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on FXNC shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of First National from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First National in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of First National in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, First National currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

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. Its loan products comprise construction loans, including residential, land acquisition, and development loans; 1-4 family residential real estate loans; and commercial real estate loans that are secured by commercial real estate, including multi-family residential buildings, office and retail buildings, hotels, industrial buildings, and religious facilities.