First United Co. (NASDAQ:FUNC) Short Interest Up 31.3% in December

First United Co. (NASDAQ:FUNC) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 23,100 shares, a growth of 31.3% from the December 15th total of 17,600 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 21,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.1 days. Currently, 0.4% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First United

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Fourthstone LLC increased its stake in shares of First United by 30.0% during the third quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 441,143 shares of the bank’s stock worth $13,164,000 after purchasing an additional 101,915 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in 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. Ritholtz Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of First United during the third quarter worth $460,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in shares of First United by 14.3% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 82,195 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,678,000 after acquiring an additional 10,280 shares during the period. Finally, De Lisle Partners LLP grew 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 valued at $3,619,000 after acquiring an additional 10,000 shares in the last quarter. 33.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

First United Stock Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ FUNC traded down $0.10 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $32.95. 24,304 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,439. The company has a market capitalization of $213.19 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.39 and a beta of 0.81. First United has a one year low of $19.17 and a one year high of $36.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.94. The company’s 50-day moving average is $34.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $30.37.

First United (NASDAQ:FUNC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $28.17 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.30 million. First United had a return on equity of 12.20% and a net margin of 14.70%. On average, analysts forecast that First United will post 3.11 EPS 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. First United’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.