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

StockNews.com upgraded shares of First United (NASDAQ:FUNC) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Monday morning.

Separately, Raymond James upgraded First United from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th.

First United Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FUNC opened at $35.88 on Monday. First United has a 1-year low of $19.17 and a 1-year high of $42.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $34.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $32.69. The stock has a market cap of $232.11 million, a PE ratio of 11.39 and a beta of 0.81.

First United (NASDAQ:FUNC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The bank reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.09. First United had a return on equity of 12.51% and a net margin of 18.45%. As a group, analysts forecast that First United will post 3.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First United

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FUNC. Fourthstone LLC lifted its position in First United by 30.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 441,143 shares of the bank’s stock worth $13,164,000 after buying an additional 101,915 shares during the last quarter. De Lisle Partners LLP boosted its holdings in First United by 9.0% in the third quarter. De Lisle Partners LLP now owns 120,838 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,619,000 after acquiring an additional 10,000 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of First United by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 99,795 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,364,000 after buying an additional 1,200 shares during the period. Susquehanna International Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of First United by 565.9% during the 4th quarter. Susquehanna International Group LLP now owns 92,430 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,116,000 after acquiring an additional 78,550 shares during the period. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in First United by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 77,761 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,621,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.27% of the company’s stock.

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.