Short Interest in First National Co. (NASDAQ:FXNC) Increases By 6.6%

First National Co. (NASDAQ:FXNC) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 62,800 shares, an increase of 6.6% from the August 31st total of 58,900 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 4,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 15.3 days. Currently, 1.3% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Janney Montgomery Scott raised First National from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $21.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, August 1st.

Insider Activity at First National

In other news, Director Kirtesh Patel acquired 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $15.56 per share, for a total transaction of $116,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 29,611 shares in the company, valued at $460,747.16. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 16.48% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cutler Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of First National by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Cutler Capital Management LLC now owns 202,745 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,410,000 after buying an additional 1,034 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in First National by 7.9% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 11,960 shares of the company’s stock valued at $194,000 after acquiring an additional 875 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in First National by 13.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 13,882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $211,000 after acquiring an additional 1,595 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 33.92% of the company’s stock.

First National Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FXNC traded down $0.24 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $17.50. 3,889 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,556. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $17.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.21. First National has a 52 week low of $14.50 and a 52 week high of $21.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $109.85 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.24 and a beta of 0.52.

First National (NASDAQ:FXNC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $14.18 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.90 million. First National had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 7.29%. Sell-side analysts predict that First National will post 1.97 EPS for the current year.

First National Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a None dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 20th were given a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 20th. First National’s payout ratio is 41.96%.

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.