First United (NASDAQ:FUNC) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of First United (NASDAQ:FUNC) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Tuesday morning.

Separately, Raymond James raised shares of First United from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th.

First United Trading Up 0.1%

NASDAQ:FUNC opened at $31.34 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $203.05 million, a PE ratio of 9.95 and a beta of 0.59. The business’s 50 day moving average is $29.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. First United has a 52 week low of $19.17 and a 52 week high of $42.50.

First United (NASDAQ:FUNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 21st. The bank reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.09. First United had a return on equity of 12.51% and a net margin of 18.45%. The firm had revenue of $20.84 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.63 million. On average, analysts predict that First United will post 3.75 EPS for the current year.

First United Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 17th. First United’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.29%.

Institutional Trading of First United

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FUNC. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in First United by 194.4% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 742 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC acquired a new position in shares of First United during the third quarter valued at $126,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp bought a new position in shares of First United during the first quarter worth about $236,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD bought a new position in shares of First United during the fourth quarter worth about $237,000. Finally, OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp acquired a new stake in shares of First United in the 1st quarter worth about $312,000. Institutional investors own 33.27% of the company’s stock.

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.