First Community (NASDAQ:FCCO) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of First Community (NASDAQ:FCCO) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Saturday morning.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on FCCO. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Community in a report on Friday, July 17th. Hovde Group boosted their price target on shares of First Community from $36.00 to $37.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.50.

First Community Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of First Community stock opened at $34.35 on Friday. First Community has a 12-month low of $25.66 and a 12-month high of $35.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $322.82 million, a PE ratio of 12.82 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $32.95 and its 200-day moving average is $30.85.

First Community (NASDAQ:FCCO) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.15. First Community had a return on equity of 13.23% and a net margin of 18.32%.The business had revenue of $25.14 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.69 million. Equities analysts anticipate that First Community will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current year.

First Community Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. This is a positive change from First Community’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 4th. First Community’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.37%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Fred Joseph Deutsch sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.52, for a total transaction of $345,200.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 18,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $637,515.36. The trade was a 35.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 8.84% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Community

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of First Community by 31.4% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 125,328 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,663,000 after purchasing an additional 29,967 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in First Community during the first quarter valued at approximately $8,430,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new position in First Community in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $524,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in First Community in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $594,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in First Community by 55.2% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 54,575 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,595,000 after buying an additional 19,418 shares in the last quarter. 61.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About First Community

First Community Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: FCCO) is the bank holding company for First Community Bank, a full-service commercial bank headquartered in Bluefield, West Virginia. Through its subsidiary, the company delivers a comprehensive range of financial services to individuals, small businesses and larger commercial clients. Its operations are focused on community banking, with an emphasis on personalized relationship management and local decision-making.

The company’s core offerings include deposit products such as checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit and money market accounts, as well as consumer and commercial lending solutions.