First United Co. (NASDAQ:FUNC) Short Interest Up 259.2% in December

First United Co. (NASDAQ:FUNC) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 17,600 shares, an increase of 259.2% from the November 30th total of 4,900 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 19,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.9 days. Currently, 0.3% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FUNC. Barclays PLC acquired a new position in First United in the 3rd quarter valued at $126,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of First United during the third quarter worth $97,000. Fourthstone LLC raised its position in shares of First United by 30.0% in the third quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 441,143 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $13,164,000 after buying an additional 101,915 shares during the last quarter. De Lisle Partners LLP lifted its stake in shares of First United by 9.0% in the third quarter. De Lisle Partners LLP now owns 120,838 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,619,000 after buying an additional 10,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in First United by 5.4% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 23,713 shares of the bank’s stock worth $708,000 after acquiring an additional 1,206 shares during the last quarter. 33.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

First United Stock Performance

First United stock traded up $0.02 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $34.00. The company had a trading volume of 19,998 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,757. 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 company’s fifty day moving average is $33.99 and its 200-day moving average is $28.88. First United has a 12-month low of $19.17 and a 12-month high of $36.49. The company has a market capitalization of $219.95 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.82 and a beta of 0.80.

First United (NASDAQ:FUNC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.10. First United had a return on equity of 12.20% and a net margin of 14.70%. The company had revenue of $28.17 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.30 million. Equities research analysts predict that First United will post 3.11 EPS for the current year.

First United Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.59%. First United’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.77%.

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.