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

First United (NASDAQ:FUNC) was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

Separately, Raymond James raised First United from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday.

First United Trading Up 9.7 %

NASDAQ FUNC opened at $40.10 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $259.45 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.30 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.94. First United has a one year low of $19.17 and a one year high of $40.63. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $33.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.45.

First United (NASDAQ:FUNC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The bank reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.09. First United had a net margin of 14.70% and a return on equity of 12.20%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that First United will post 3.11 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First United

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FUNC. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in First United by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 24,893 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $839,000 after buying an additional 1,180 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of First United in the third quarter worth about $97,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in First United by 31.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 15,440 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $520,000 after purchasing an additional 3,683 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC acquired a new stake in First United during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $126,000. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its holdings in First United by 34.9% during the 4th quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 20,786 shares of the bank’s stock worth $701,000 after purchasing an additional 5,374 shares during the last quarter. 33.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.