First United Co. (NASDAQ:FUNC) Short Interest Down 32.4% in March

First United Co. (NASDAQ:FUNC - Get Free Report) was the target of a large decrease in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,000 shares, a decrease of 32.4% from the March 15th total of 7,400 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 30,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.2 days. Currently, 0.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First United

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FUNC. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,200 shares in the last quarter. Susquehanna International Group LLP increased its stake in shares of First United by 565.9% during the 4th quarter. Susquehanna International Group LLP now owns 92,430 shares of the bank's stock worth $3,116,000 after purchasing an additional 78,550 shares during the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of First United by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 77,761 shares of the bank's stock worth $2,621,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in First United by 35.7% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 54,487 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,837,000 after purchasing an additional 14,348 shares during the last quarter. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in First United by 58.1% during the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 42,253 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,424,000 after purchasing an additional 15,523 shares during the period. 33.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First United Stock Up 4.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FUNC traded up $1.20 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $30.52. 7,741 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 24,122. 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $31.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $32.96. First United has a 52 week low of $19.17 and a 52 week high of $42.50. The company has a market cap of $197.56 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.69 and a beta of 0.58.

First United (NASDAQ:FUNC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The bank reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.80 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $20.84 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $20.63 million. First United had a return on equity of 12.51% and a net margin of 18.45%. As a group, research analysts forecast that First United will post 3.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First United Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. First United's payout ratio is 25.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on FUNC shares. Raymond James raised First United from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $42.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of First United from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 29th.

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.