First United Corporation (NASDAQ:FUNC) Short Interest Up 35.5% in March

First United Corporation (NASDAQ:FUNC) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 64,853 shares, an increase of 35.5% from the February 26th total of 47,870 shares. Approximately 1.1% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 17,731 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.7 days.

Institutional Trading of First United

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of First United by 349.9% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 140,586 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,220,000 after purchasing an additional 109,340 shares in the last quarter. Fourthstone LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First United in the second quarter worth $2,965,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of First United by 112.3% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 139,939 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,340,000 after acquiring an additional 74,032 shares in the last quarter. Daytona Street Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of First United in the 4th quarter worth about $1,390,000. Finally, TrueMark Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of First United in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,282,000. Institutional investors own 33.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of First United in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, First United presently has an average rating of “Buy”.

First United Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:FUNC traded up $0.42 on Monday, hitting $36.76. The company had a trading volume of 11,733 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,854. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $37.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $238.94 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.75 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. First United has a 1 year low of $24.66 and a 1 year high of $41.94.

First United (NASDAQ:FUNC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The bank reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.14. First United had a net margin of 20.19% and a return on equity of 13.33%. The company had revenue of $23.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.80 million. Equities analysts anticipate that First United will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First United Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 17th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 17th. First United’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.59%.

About First United

First United Corporation is a bank holding company that, through its subsidiary First United Bank & Trust, provides a full suite of commercial and consumer banking services to individuals, businesses, and agricultural customers across central Oklahoma. The company offers deposit accounts such as checking, savings, money market and time deposits, alongside a variety of lending solutions covering commercial real estate, construction, agricultural and consumer loans.

In addition to traditional banking products, First United delivers treasury management and cash management solutions designed to streamline client operations, as well as online and mobile banking platforms for account access and payments.