First National Co. (NASDAQ:FXNC) Short Interest Update

First National Co. (NASDAQ:FXNC - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 58,400 shares, an increase of 32.7% from the March 15th total of 44,000 shares. Approximately 0.8% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 25,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.3 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FXNC. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in First National by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 14,130 shares of the company's stock worth $325,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC bought a new position in shares of First National during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in First National by 20.6% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 14,041 shares of the company's stock worth $323,000 after purchasing an additional 2,398 shares in the last quarter. PL Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in First National during the 4th quarter worth approximately $78,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in First National by 8.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 50,401 shares of the company's stock valued at $882,000 after buying an additional 3,789 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 33.92% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Hovde Group lowered First National from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and set a $28.50 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th.

First National Price Performance

FXNC stock traded up $0.38 during trading on Thursday, hitting $20.45. The company had a trading volume of 16,672 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,288. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $21.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $22.85. First National has a fifty-two week low of $14.50 and a fifty-two week high of $26.97. The company has a market cap of $183.78 million, a P/E ratio of 17.63 and a beta of 0.41.

First National (NASDAQ:FXNC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.19. First National had a net margin of 7.51% and a return on equity of 12.09%. Equities research analysts expect that First National will post 2.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First National Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.155 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.03%. First National's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.45%.

About First National

First National Corporation operates as the bank holding company for First Bank that provides various commercial banking services to small and medium-sized businesses, individuals, estates, local governmental entities, and non-profit organizations in Virginia. The company's deposit products include checking, savings, money market, and individual retirement accounts, as well as certificates of deposit and treasury management solutions.