First National (NASDAQ:FXNC) Trading Up 0% – Still a Buy?

First National Corp. (NASDAQ:FXNC)’s stock price traded up 0% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $22.70 and last traded at $22.30. 40,534 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 160% from the average session volume of 15,600 shares. The stock had previously closed at $22.29.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of First National in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $28.50.

First National Stock Up 0.0%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $200.48 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.30 and a beta of 0.55. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $22.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.26.

First National (NASDAQ:FXNC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58. The firm had revenue of $22.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.70 million. First National had a return on equity of 10.53% and a net margin of 7.29%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that First National Corp. will post 2.25 earnings per share for the current year.

First National Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th were given a $0.155 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 29th. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. First National’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FXNC. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in First National by 157.7% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 40,744 shares of the company’s stock valued at $915,000 after purchasing an additional 24,931 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of First National by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 15,089 shares of the company’s stock valued at $339,000 after acquiring an additional 959 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new position in shares of First National in the 1st quarter valued at about $598,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of First National in the 2nd quarter valued at about $403,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in First National by 109.7% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 180,312 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,512,000 after purchasing an additional 94,314 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 33.92% of the company’s stock.

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.