First Community Co. (NASDAQ:FCCO) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.15

First Community Co. (NASDAQ:FCCO) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, January 22nd,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be given a dividend of 0.15 per share by the bank on Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.42%.

First Community has raised its dividend payment by an average of 6.5% per year over the last three years. First Community has a payout ratio of 24.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect First Community to earn $2.08 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 28.8%.

First Community Stock Performance

FCCO stock traded up $0.60 on Wednesday, hitting $24.83. The company had a trading volume of 7,832 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,997. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $24.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.57. First Community has a 12-month low of $15.40 and a 12-month high of $26.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market cap of $189.66 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.69 and a beta of 0.42.

First Community (NASDAQ:FCCO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The bank reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.06. First Community had a return on equity of 9.57% and a net margin of 12.99%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.43 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that First Community will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.