Raymond James Upgrades First Community (NASDAQ:FCCO) to "Strong-Buy"

First Community (NASDAQ:FCCO - Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at Raymond James from an "outperform" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report released on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has a $30.00 price target on the bank's stock, up from their prior price target of $27.00. Raymond James' target price indicates a potential upside of 15.67% from the stock's current price.

First Community Stock Up 5.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FCCO traded up $1.37 during trading on Thursday, reaching $25.94. 72,013 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 27,986. The stock has a market cap of $198.15 million, a P/E ratio of 15.37 and a beta of 0.42. First Community has a 52-week low of $15.40 and a 52-week high of $26.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.79. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $24.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $22.64.

First Community (NASDAQ:FCCO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The bank reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 period in the previous year, the company earned $0.43 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that First Community will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC raised its stake in First Community by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC now owns 182,441 shares of the bank's stock valued at $4,379,000 after buying an additional 850 shares during the last quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC increased its position in First Community by 48.1% during the third quarter. Asset Advisors Investment Management LLC now owns 39,985 shares of the bank's stock valued at $857,000 after acquiring an additional 12,985 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its position in First Community by 214.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 10,046 shares of the bank's stock worth $215,000 after purchasing an additional 6,847 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of First Community by 6.6% during 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 period. Finally, State Street Corp increased its position in shares of First Community by 5.6% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. 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.