First United (NASDAQ:FUNC) Raised to Buy at StockNews.com

First United (NASDAQ:FUNC) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday.

First United Price Performance

First United stock remained flat at $29.70 during trading hours on Monday. 10,761 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 23,556. The company has a market cap of $197.48 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.81 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $28.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $24.28. First United has a 52-week low of $15.68 and a 52-week high of $30.93.

First United (NASDAQ:FUNC) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $27.95 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $19.34 million. First United had a net margin of 13.84% and a return on equity of 11.78%. On average, equities research analysts predict that First United will post 3 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other First United news, Director Irvin Robert Rudy sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.52, for a total value of $55,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 37,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,018,240. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders bought a total of 188 shares of company stock worth $5,254 over the last ninety days. 7.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of First United by 72.2% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 66,698 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,360,000 after purchasing an additional 27,973 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of First United by 103.1% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 22,805 shares of the bank’s stock worth $522,000 after purchasing an additional 11,576 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of First United by 13.2% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 39,947 shares of the bank’s stock worth $816,000 after purchasing an additional 4,645 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD acquired a new stake in shares of First United during the first quarter worth approximately $209,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of First United by 14.3% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 82,195 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,678,000 after purchasing an additional 10,280 shares during the period. 33.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.