O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Buys 15,523 Shares of First United Co. (NASDAQ:FUNC)

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of First United Co. (NASDAQ:FUNC) by 58.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 42,253 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,523 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in First United were worth $1,424,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in First United by 35.7% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 54,487 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,837,000 after buying an additional 14,348 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in First United by 31.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 15,440 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $520,000 after acquiring an additional 3,683 shares during the period. Angel Oak Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First United in the fourth quarter valued at about $934,000. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of First United by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 24,893 shares of the bank’s stock worth $839,000 after purchasing an additional 1,180 shares during the period. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of 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. Institutional investors own 33.27% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on FUNC shares. StockNews.com downgraded First United from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 29th. Raymond James upgraded shares of First United from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th.

First United Trading Down 4.0 %

Shares of FUNC opened at $26.05 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $33.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $33.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $168.62 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.27 and a beta of 0.58. First United Co. has a 12-month low of $19.17 and a 12-month high of $42.50.

First United (NASDAQ:FUNC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The bank reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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, research analysts predict that First United Co. will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current year.

First United Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. First United’s payout ratio is 27.94%.

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.