First United Co. (NASDAQ:FUNC) Short Interest Update

First United Co. (NASDAQ:FUNC) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 15,500 shares, an increase of 63.2% from the January 31st total of 9,500 shares. Currently, 0.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 29,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.5 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position in First United by 194.4% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 742 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of First United in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $97,000. Barclays PLC acquired a new position in shares of First United in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $126,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD acquired a new position in shares of First United in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $237,000. Finally, 683 Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in First United in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $339,000. 33.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

First United Price Performance

Shares of First United stock traded up $0.23 during trading on Friday, reaching $35.79. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 12,284 shares, compared to its average volume of 34,774. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $34.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $32.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. First United has a one year low of $19.17 and a one year high of $42.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $231.53 million, a P/E ratio of 11.36 and a beta of 0.81.

First United (NASDAQ:FUNC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The bank reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.09. First United had a return on equity of 12.51% and a net margin of 18.45%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that First United will post 3.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on FUNC shares. StockNews.com raised First United from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Raymond James raised First United from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th.

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.