Short Interest in First United Co. (NASDAQ:FUNC) Rises By 63.2%

First United Co. (NASDAQ:FUNC) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 15,500 shares, a growth of 63.2% from the January 31st total of 9,500 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 29,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.5 days. Currently, 0.3% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of FUNC. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in First United by 5.4% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 23,713 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $708,000 after acquiring an additional 1,206 shares during the last quarter. De Lisle Partners LLP increased its position in shares of First United by 9.0% during the third quarter. De Lisle Partners LLP now owns 120,838 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,619,000 after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares in the last quarter. Fourthstone LLC boosted its position in shares of First United by 30.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 441,143 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $13,164,000 after purchasing an additional 101,915 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in First United during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $97,000. Finally, Barclays PLC purchased a new position in First United during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $126,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 33.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on FUNC. Raymond James upgraded First United from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of First United from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th.

First United Stock Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ FUNC traded down $0.15 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $35.01. 11,240 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 23,674. First United has a 1 year low of $19.17 and a 1 year high of $42.50. The stock has a market cap of $226.48 million, a P/E ratio of 11.11 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.94. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $34.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $32.90.

First United (NASDAQ:FUNC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The bank reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.09. First United had a return on equity of 12.51% and a net margin of 18.45%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that First United will post 3.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About First United

First United Corporation operates as the bank holding company for First United Bank & Trust that provides various retail and commercial banking services to businesses and individuals. It offers various deposit products, which includes checking, savings, money market deposit, and regular and individual retirement accounts (IRAs), as well as certificates of deposit.