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

First National Co. (NASDAQ:FXNC - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 55,300 shares, a growth of 120.3% from the February 13th total of 25,100 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 25,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.2 days. Approximately 0.7% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

First National Price Performance

NASDAQ:FXNC traded down $0.09 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $22.37. 20,222 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,335. The company has a market capitalization of $200.66 million, a P/E ratio of 19.28 and a beta of 0.57. First National has a 12 month low of $14.50 and a 12 month high of $26.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $24.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $22.33.

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

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First National Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were given 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 2.77%. First National's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.45%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First National

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fourthstone LLC lifted its position in shares of First National by 42.9% in the 4th quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 896,591 shares of the company's stock valued at $20,631,000 after acquiring an additional 269,124 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of First National in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $5,538,000. Rhino Investment Partners Inc purchased a new stake in shares of First National in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,881,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of First National by 71.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 86,491 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,991,000 after acquiring an additional 36,090 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PL Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First National in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,800,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.92% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on FXNC. Hovde Group cut shares of First National from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and set a $28.50 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Janney Montgomery Scott cut shares of First National from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th.

First National Company Profile

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.