Short Interest in First National Co. (NASDAQ:FXNC) Expands By 120.3%

First National Co. (NASDAQ:FXNC) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 55,300 shares, an increase of 120.3% from the February 13th total of 25,100 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 25,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.2 days. Currently, 0.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC purchased a new position in First National during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. PL Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in First National during the fourth quarter worth $78,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. purchased a new position in First National during the third quarter worth $88,000. Salzhauer Michael purchased a new position in First National during the fourth quarter worth $202,000. Finally, Founders Grove Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First National during the fourth quarter valued at $252,000. 33.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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 on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Janney Montgomery Scott cut shares of First National from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th.

First National Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of FXNC opened at $22.25 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $24.31 and its 200 day moving average is $22.26. First National has a fifty-two week low of $14.50 and a fifty-two week high of $26.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $199.58 million, a PE ratio of 19.18 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85.

First National (NASDAQ:FXNC) last announced its quarterly 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that First National will post 2.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First National Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.155 per share. This represents a $0.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. First National’s payout ratio is 53.45%.

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.