First United (NASDAQ:FUNC) Downgraded to Hold Rating by StockNews.com

First United (NASDAQ:FUNC) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Sunday.

Separately, Raymond James raised shares of First United from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th.

First United Price Performance

FUNC opened at $40.37 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $261.19 million, a P/E ratio of 12.82 and a beta of 0.81. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $34.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $32.06. First United has a 52-week low of $19.17 and a 52-week high of $42.50.

First United (NASDAQ:FUNC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The bank reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.09. First United had a net margin of 18.45% and a return on equity of 12.51%. As a group, analysts predict that First United will post 3.3 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First United

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in First United by 194.4% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 742 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in First United by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 24,893 shares of the bank’s stock worth $839,000 after acquiring an additional 1,180 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in First United by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 99,795 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,364,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in First United in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $97,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in First United by 31.3% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 15,440 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $520,000 after buying an additional 3,683 shares in the last quarter. 33.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.