First United Co. (NASDAQ:FUNC) Short Interest Down 38.4% in March

First United Co. (NASDAQ:FUNC) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 13,800 shares, a drop of 38.4% from the February 29th total of 22,400 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 25,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.5 days. Approximately 0.2% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First United

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. AJOVista LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First United during the 4th quarter valued at $49,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in First United by 9.2% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 7,647 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $109,000 after acquiring an additional 647 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its position in First United by 7.3% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 11,521 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $193,000 after acquiring an additional 781 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC acquired a new stake in First United during the second quarter worth about $283,000. Finally, State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of First United by 11.1% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,637 shares of the bank’s stock worth $330,000 after purchasing an additional 1,462 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.27% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of First United in a research report on Sunday, December 17th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock.

First United Price Performance

Shares of FUNC traded up $0.29 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $22.91. 10,168 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 25,326. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.04. First United has a fifty-two week low of $12.56 and a fifty-two week high of $24.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $152.12 million, a PE ratio of 10.23 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

First United (NASDAQ:FUNC) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The bank reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.21. First United had a return on equity of 12.03% and a net margin of 15.12%. The firm had revenue of $26.98 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.68 million. As a group, research analysts predict that First United will post 2.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First United Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 17th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 16th. First United’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.71%.

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, and money market deposit accounts, as well as certificates of deposit.