StockNews.com Downgrades First Community (NASDAQ:FCCO) to Sell

First Community (NASDAQ:FCCO) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

Separately, Raymond James upgraded shares of First Community from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $21.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 25th.

First Community Stock Performance

Shares of FCCO stock opened at $17.27 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $16.72 and a 200 day moving average of $17.78. First Community has a 1 year low of $15.40 and a 1 year high of $22.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $131.77 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.85 and a beta of 0.44.

First Community (NASDAQ:FCCO) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The bank reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34. First Community had a return on equity of 8.57% and a net margin of 12.32%. The firm had revenue of $24.44 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.83 million. As a group, research analysts expect that First Community will post 1.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Community

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FCCO. Strategic Value Bank Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of First Community by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Value Bank Partners LLC now owns 290,114 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,246,000 after purchasing an additional 892 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in shares of First Community by 41.0% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,373 shares of the bank’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 981 shares during the period. Ancora Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Community by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 79,671 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,389,000 after acquiring an additional 1,050 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of First Community by 8.1% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 32,688 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $570,000 after purchasing an additional 2,450 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its holdings in First Community by 522.1% in the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 3,465 shares of the bank’s stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 2,908 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.25% of the company’s stock.

First Community Company Profile

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.