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

StockNews.com cut shares of First United (NASDAQ:FUNC - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Saturday morning.

Separately, Raymond James upgraded First United from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $42.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th.

First United Stock Up 1.2 %

First United stock traded up $0.35 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $30.06. The company's stock had a trading volume of 13,003 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,656. The stock has a market capitalization of $194.58 million, a P/E ratio of 9.54 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $33.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.21. First United has a 52-week low of $19.17 and a 52-week high of $42.50.

First United (NASDAQ:FUNC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The bank reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.09. First United had a net margin of 18.45% and a return on equity of 12.51%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that First United will post 3.75 EPS for the current year.

First United Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders 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 yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. First United's payout ratio is 27.94%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First United

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in First United by 194.4% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 742 shares of the bank's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 490 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of First United during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $97,000. Barclays PLC purchased a new position in shares of First United during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $126,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD purchased a new stake in First United during the fourth quarter worth $237,000. Finally, 683 Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in First United during the fourth quarter valued at $339,000. 33.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.