First United (NASDAQ:FUNC) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

First United (NASDAQ:FUNC) was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday.

First United Stock Performance

NASDAQ FUNC opened at $28.13 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $21.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $187.06 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.08 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. First United has a 52-week low of $15.68 and a 52-week high of $28.85.

First United (NASDAQ:FUNC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.09. First United had a return on equity of 11.85% and a net margin of 13.84%. The firm had revenue of $27.95 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.34 million. Equities research analysts forecast that First United will post 3 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Irvin Robert Rudy sold 2,000 shares of First United stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.52, for a total transaction of $55,040.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 37,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,018,240. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 7.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of First United

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of FUNC. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of First United by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 16,136 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $370,000 after purchasing an additional 1,192 shares in the last quarter. AJOVista LLC acquired a new stake in First United during the 4th quarter valued at $49,000. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in First United in the 1st quarter valued at $111,000. Gendell Jeffrey L increased its stake in shares of First United by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Gendell Jeffrey L now owns 167,704 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,943,000 after buying an additional 7,064 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD bought a new position in shares of First United in the first quarter valued at about $209,000. 33.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.