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

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

First United Stock Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ FUNC opened at $29.63 on Monday. First United has a 12 month low of $15.68 and a 12 month high of $30.93. The company has a market capitalization of $197.01 million, a P/E ratio of 13.78 and a beta of 0.79. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $28.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

First United (NASDAQ:FUNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.09. First United had a return on equity of 11.78% and a net margin of 13.84%. The company had revenue of $27.95 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.34 million. Equities research analysts expect that First United will post 3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other First United news, Director Irvin Robert Rudy sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.52, for a total value of $55,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In the last quarter, insiders have purchased 188 shares of company stock worth $5,254. Company insiders own 7.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of First United

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of First United by 7.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in First United by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 308,612 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,070,000 after acquiring an additional 10,800 shares in the last quarter. Gendell Jeffrey L increased its holdings in shares of First United by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. Gendell Jeffrey L now owns 178,352 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,086,000 after purchasing an additional 10,648 shares during the period. Huber Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of First United by 4.2% in the second quarter. Huber Capital Management LLC now owns 124,556 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,543,000 after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of First United by 14.3% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 82,195 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,678,000 after purchasing an additional 10,280 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.