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

First United (NASDAQ:FUNC) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday.

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

First United Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FUNC opened at $36.33 on Monday. First United has a 52-week low of $19.17 and a 52-week high of $42.50. The stock has a market cap of $235.02 million, a P/E ratio of 11.53 and a beta of 0.81. The business’s 50 day moving average is $34.85 and its 200 day moving average is $32.67. 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 (NASDAQ:FUNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The bank reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that First United will post 3.75 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First United

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in FUNC. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in First United by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 77,761 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,621,000 after acquiring an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in First United by 194.4% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 742 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in First United by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 24,893 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $839,000 after acquiring an additional 1,180 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in First United by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 99,795 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,364,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in First United in the third quarter valued at approximately $97,000. 33.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.