First United (NASDAQ:FUNC) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

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

First United Price Performance

Shares of First United stock opened at $40.10 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $259.45 million, a P/E ratio of 12.73 and a beta of 0.81. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $33.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.63. First United has a twelve month low of $19.17 and a twelve month high of $40.63.

First United (NASDAQ:FUNC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The bank reported $0.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that First United will post 3.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First United

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of FUNC. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in 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. Angel Oak Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of First United during the fourth quarter worth $934,000. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,180 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its holdings in First United by 34.9% during the 4th quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 20,786 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $701,000 after purchasing an additional 5,374 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC purchased a new stake in First United during the 3rd quarter worth $126,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 33.27% of the company’s stock.

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.