First Community (NASDAQ:FCCO) Price Target Raised to $29.00

First Community (NASDAQ:FCCO) had its price target upped by Hovde Group from $28.00 to $29.00 in a research note published on Thursday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the bank’s stock.

Separately, Raymond James raised First Community from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $27.00 to $30.00 in a report on Thursday.

First Community Stock Performance

First Community stock opened at $25.99 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $24.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $22.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $198.56 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.36 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. First Community has a 12-month low of $15.40 and a 12-month high of $27.28.

First Community (NASDAQ:FCCO) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The bank reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.06. First Community had a net margin of 13.49% and a return on equity of 10.14%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.43 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that First Community will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Community Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 4th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. 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 is 33.15%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Community

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FCCO. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of First Community in the 2nd quarter worth $58,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in First Community during the second quarter worth about $190,000. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of First Community by 214.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 10,046 shares of the bank’s stock worth $215,000 after buying an additional 6,847 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new stake in shares of First Community in the 2nd quarter valued at about $261,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of First Community in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $289,000. 61.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.