First United (FUNC) Competitors

Atlanticus (NASDAQ:ATLC) and First United (NASDAQ:FUNC) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their media sentiment, institutional ownership, valuation, community ranking, risk, analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends and profitability.

Do analysts recommend ATLC or FUNC?

Atlanticus presently has a consensus price target of $61.00, indicating a potential upside of 17.81%. First United has a consensus price target of $42.00, indicating a potential upside of 41.46%. Given First United's higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe First United is more favorable than Atlanticus.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Atlanticus	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
First United	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in ATLC or FUNC?

First United received 6 more outperform votes than Atlanticus when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 64.90% of users gave Atlanticus an outperform vote while only 64.68% of users gave First United an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Atlanticus	Outperform Votes 135 64.90%	Underperform Votes 73 35.10%
First United	Outperform Votes 141 64.68%	Underperform Votes 77 35.32%

Is ATLC or FUNC more profitable?

First United has a net margin of 18.45% compared to Atlanticus' net margin of 8.39%. Atlanticus' return on equity of 25.14% beat First United's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Atlanticus	8.39%	25.14%	3.74%
First United	18.45%	12.51%	1.11%

Does the media refer more to ATLC or FUNC?

In the previous week, Atlanticus had 4 more articles in the media than First United. MarketBeat recorded 6 mentions for Atlanticus and 2 mentions for First United. First United's average media sentiment score of 1.16 beat Atlanticus' score of 0.81 indicating that First United is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Atlanticus	2 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
First United	0 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has more risk and volatility, ATLC or FUNC?

Atlanticus has a beta of 2.16, meaning that its share price is 116% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First United has a beta of 0.77, meaning that its share price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has stronger valuation & earnings, ATLC or FUNC?

Atlanticus has higher revenue and earnings than First United. First United is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Atlanticus, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Atlanticus	$299.40M	2.61	$102.85M	$4.77	10.86
First United	$79.79M	2.41	$20.57M	$3.15	9.43

Do institutionals and insiders believe in ATLC or FUNC?

14.1% of Atlanticus shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 33.3% of First United shares are owned by institutional investors. 51.8% of Atlanticus shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 7.8% of First United shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Atlanticus beats First United on 13 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.