First Community Analyst Turns Bullish After Q4 Print: 'Conversations With Borrowers Picked Up'

Shares of First Community Corp (NASDAQ: FCCO) rose in premarket trading on Thursday, after the company reported higher-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings.

The Lexington, South Carolina-based company’s earnings appear to be reaching a bottom. They should receive a boost from the Federal Reserve’s upcoming rate cuts and “organic growth from the bank’s strong markets in South Carolina and Georgia," according to Raymond James.

The First Community Analyst: Steve Moss upgraded the rating for First Community from Market Perform to Outperform, while establishing a price target of $21.

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The First Community Thesis: The fourth-quarter earnings beat was driven by higher net interest income and fees as well as lower expenses, Moss said in the upgrade note.

First Community indicated that the loan pipeline softened during the fourth quarter, but “that conversations with borrowers have picked up since the start of the year,” the analyst wrote. “FCCO expects mid-to-high single digit commercial loan growth in 2024, we model 8%,” he added.

“NPAs remained low at 8 bp of related assets as of 4Q23, and FCCO recorded a $1K net recovery,” Moss said. He further stated that the loan loss reserve (LLR) ratio is likely to increase from 1.08% in the fourth quarter to 1.10% by yearend 2024.

FCCO Price Action: Shares of First Community had risen by 2.82% to $18.98 in the premarket session on Thursday.

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