Blue Trust Inc. Invests $42,000 in First Community Corporation $FCCO

Blue Trust Inc. bought a new position in First Community Corporation (NASDAQ:FCCO) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 1,733 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $42,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of First Community by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC now owns 180,517 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,401,000 after buying an additional 530 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of First Community by 36.7% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 130,870 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,948,000 after buying an additional 35,140 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC grew its position in shares of First Community by 63.7% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 51,323 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,158,000 after buying an additional 19,978 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in shares of First Community by 7.7% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,080 shares of the bank’s stock worth $227,000 after buying an additional 721 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of First Community by 199.8% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 90,919 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,051,000 after buying an additional 60,596 shares during the period. 61.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FCCO has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Zacks Research downgraded shares of First Community from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First Community in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, First Community has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $29.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Community

In other news, Director Roderick M. Todd, Jr. sold 1,679 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.00, for a total transaction of $47,012.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 11,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $332,248. This represents a 12.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 5.92% of the company’s stock.

First Community Price Performance

FCCO opened at $26.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $205.52 million, a P/E ratio of 12.00 and a beta of 0.50. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $27.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.95. First Community Corporation has a 52-week low of $19.46 and a 52-week high of $29.55.

First Community (NASDAQ:FCCO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 30th. The bank reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter. First Community had a net margin of 15.87% and a return on equity of 11.65%. The firm had revenue of $13.86 million for the quarter. As a group, analysts predict that First Community Corporation will post 2.28 EPS for the current year.

First Community Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 19th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 5th were issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. This is an increase from First Community’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 5th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. First Community’s payout ratio is 28.70%.

First Community 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.