First Community Co. (NASDAQ:FCCO) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

First Community Co. (NASDAQ:FCCO - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 30,600 shares, an increase of 81.1% from the December 15th total of 16,900 shares. Currently, 0.4% of the company's shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 22,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.3 days.

First Community Trading Up 3.1 %

NASDAQ FCCO traded up $0.68 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $22.97. The stock had a trading volume of 21,829 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,141. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $24.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $22.31. 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 twelve month low of $15.40 and a twelve month high of $26.48. The company has a market capitalization of $175.51 million, a PE ratio of 13.59 and a beta of 0.42.

First Community (NASDAQ:FCCO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The bank reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.06. First Community had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 9.57%. The business had revenue of $26.73 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.65 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.23 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that First Community will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Community

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its position in shares of First Community by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 105,945 shares of the bank's stock valued at $2,271,000 after acquiring an additional 690 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of First Community by 5.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 22,795 shares of the bank's stock valued at $489,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares during the period. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of First Community during the 2nd quarter valued at about $58,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of First Community by 22.1% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 19,474 shares of the bank's stock worth $335,000 after acquiring an additional 3,525 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of First Community by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 83,088 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,782,000 after purchasing an additional 5,157 shares during the last quarter. 61.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.