First United (NASDAQ:FUNC) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of First United (NASDAQ:FUNC) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Saturday morning.

FUNC has been the topic of several other research reports. Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on First United from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Hovde Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $49.00 target price on shares of First United in a report on Thursday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of First United in a report on Friday, July 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.50.

First United Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FUNC opened at $44.88 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $42.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $289.48 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.63 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. First United has a 52-week low of $31.71 and a 52-week high of $46.30.

First United (NASDAQ:FUNC) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 20th. The bank reported $1.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.08. First United had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 20.05%.The business had revenue of $23.94 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.55 million. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that First United will post 4.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First United Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 20th will be given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 20th. First United’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.94%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in First United by 3.4% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,105 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $344,000 after buying an additional 364 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in First United by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 5,208 shares of the bank’s stock worth $191,000 after acquiring an additional 431 shares during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc grew its stake in First United by 126.8% during the 1st quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 896 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 501 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in First United by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 11,672 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $437,000 after acquiring an additional 743 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in shares of First United by 102.1% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,524 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 770 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.27% of the company’s stock.

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.