First United (NASDAQ:FUNC) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of First United (NASDAQ:FUNC) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Saturday.

Separately, Raymond James upgraded shares of First United from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday.

First United Trading Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ:FUNC opened at $40.29 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $34.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.72. First United has a 12-month low of $19.17 and a 12-month high of $41.88. The firm has a market cap of $260.64 million, a P/E ratio of 12.79 and a beta of 0.81.

First United (NASDAQ:FUNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The bank reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.09. First United had a net margin of 18.45% and a return on equity of 12.51%. Equities analysts anticipate that First United will post 3.3 EPS for the current year.

First United Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th were given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 17th. First United’s payout ratio is 27.94%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First United

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of First United in the 3rd quarter valued at about $97,000. Barclays PLC purchased a new position in First United in the third quarter valued at about $126,000. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First United during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Ritholtz Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of First United during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $460,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of First United by 31.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 15,440 shares of the bank’s stock worth $520,000 after acquiring an additional 3,683 shares during the period. 33.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.