Short Interest in First United Co. (NASDAQ:FUNC) Declines By 51.6%

First United Co. (NASDAQ:FUNC) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 7,500 shares, a decrease of 51.6% from the February 13th total of 15,500 shares. Currently, 0.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 28,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.3 days.

First United Trading Up 3.8 %

FUNC stock traded up $1.13 during trading on Friday, hitting $30.53. 6,006 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 23,753. The company has a 50-day moving average of $34.59 and a 200-day moving average of $33.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.94. First United has a 1 year low of $19.17 and a 1 year high of $42.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $197.50 million, a PE ratio of 9.70 and a beta of 0.77.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.09. First United had a return on equity of 12.51% and a net margin of 18.45%. Analysts predict that First United will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First United Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. First United’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.94%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First United

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FUNC. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in shares of First United by 194.4% during 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 in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in First United in the third quarter worth $97,000. Barclays PLC bought a new stake in shares of First United during the 3rd quarter valued at $126,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD bought a new stake in shares of First United during the 4th quarter valued at $237,000. Finally, 683 Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First United in the 4th quarter worth about $339,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.27% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on FUNC shares. StockNews.com upgraded First United from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Raymond James raised 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, February 7th.

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.