First United Co. (NASDAQ:FUNC) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

First United Co. (NASDAQ:FUNC) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,600 shares, an increase of 15.2% from the October 31st total of 6,600 shares. Currently, 0.1% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 19,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.4 days.

First United Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FUNC traded up $0.16 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $36.01. The stock had a trading volume of 18,451 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,944. The stock has a market cap of $232.98 million, a PE ratio of 14.64 and a beta of 0.80. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $32.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $27.30. 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 $19.11 and a one year high of $36.20.

First United (NASDAQ:FUNC) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.10. First United had a net margin of 14.70% and a return on equity of 12.20%. The firm had revenue of $28.17 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.30 million. On average, research analysts forecast that First United will post 3.11 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 Monday, February 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. First United’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.77%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in First United by 3.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 308,612 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,070,000 after acquiring an additional 10,800 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD acquired a new stake in shares of First United in the first quarter valued at $209,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of First United by 72.2% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 66,698 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,360,000 after purchasing an additional 27,973 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of First United by 13.2% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 39,947 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $816,000 after buying an additional 4,645 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of First United by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 372,330 shares of the bank’s stock worth $7,603,000 after buying an additional 24,457 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 33.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com raised First United from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th.

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.