First United Co. (NASDAQ:FUNC) Short Interest Update

First United Co. (NASDAQ:FUNC) saw a large decrease in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 7,500 shares, a decrease of 51.6% from the February 13th total of 15,500 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 28,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.3 days. Currently, 0.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

First United Price Performance

NASDAQ FUNC traded up $0.73 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $30.13. 16,373 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 23,767. The stock has a market cap of $194.91 million, a PE ratio of 9.57 and a beta of 0.77. First United has a one year low of $19.17 and a one year high of $42.50. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $34.52 and a 200-day moving average of $33.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

First United (NASDAQ:FUNC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The bank reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 predict that First United will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First United Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.92%. First United’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.94%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First United

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Angel Oak Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First United in the 4th quarter valued at $934,000. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of First United by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 23,713 shares of the bank’s stock worth $708,000 after purchasing an additional 1,206 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC bought a new position in shares of First United in the 3rd quarter worth $126,000. Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of First United by 34.9% in the 4th quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 20,786 shares of the bank’s stock worth $701,000 after purchasing an additional 5,374 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of First United in the 3rd quarter worth $97,000. 33.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First United Company Profile

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.