First United (NASDAQ:FUNC) Lifted to “Buy” at StockNews.com

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

First United Price Performance

Shares of FUNC opened at $29.90 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $28.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.41. First United has a 52-week low of $15.68 and a 52-week high of $30.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $198.81 million, a PE ratio of 13.91 and a beta of 0.79.

First United (NASDAQ:FUNC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $27.95 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.34 million. First United had a net margin of 13.84% and a return on equity of 11.78%. Sell-side analysts predict that First United will post 3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First United Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th will be given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 18th. This is a positive change from First United’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. First United’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling at First United

In other news, Director Irvin Robert Rudy sold 2,000 shares of First United stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.52, for a total value of $55,040.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 37,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,018,240. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders have bought 188 shares of company stock worth $5,254. Corporate insiders own 7.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of First United by 7.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 372,330 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,603,000 after buying an additional 24,457 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of First United by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 308,612 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,070,000 after buying an additional 10,800 shares during the last quarter. Gendell Jeffrey L boosted its holdings in shares of First United by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Gendell Jeffrey L now owns 178,352 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,086,000 after buying an additional 10,648 shares during the period. Huber Capital Management LLC grew its stake in First United by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter. Huber Capital Management LLC now owns 124,556 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,543,000 after buying an additional 5,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in First United by 14.3% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 82,195 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,678,000 after acquiring an additional 10,280 shares during the period. 33.27% of the stock is currently owned by 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.