First United Co. (NASDAQ:FUNC) Short Interest Down 41.6% in January

First United Co. (NASDAQ:FUNC - Get Free Report) saw a large drop in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 13,500 shares, a drop of 41.6% from the December 31st total of 23,100 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 24,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.6 days. Currently, 0.2% of the company's shares are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First United

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in First United by 5.0% during 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. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in First United in the third quarter worth $97,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in First United by 31.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 15,440 shares of the bank's stock worth $520,000 after buying an additional 3,683 shares during the period. Barclays PLC bought a new position in First United during the third quarter valued at $126,000. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of First United by 34.9% in the fourth quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 20,786 shares of the bank's stock valued at $701,000 after acquiring an additional 5,374 shares during the period. 33.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First United Stock Performance

Shares of First United stock traded up $0.64 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $33.51. 42,862 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 32,333. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $33.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.42. First United has a one year low of $19.17 and a one year high of $36.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $216.81 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.62 and a beta of 0.81.

First United (NASDAQ:FUNC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The bank reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.09. First United had a return on equity of 12.20% and a net margin of 14.70%. On average, equities research analysts expect that First United will post 3.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First United Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th were paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 17th. First United's payout ratio is 35.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of First United from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st.

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.