First United Corporation (NASDAQ:FUNC) Short Interest Up 35.5% in March

First United Corporation (NASDAQ:FUNC) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 64,853 shares, a growth of 35.5% from the February 26th total of 47,870 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 17,731 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.7 days. Currently, 1.1% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First United

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey bought a new position in shares of First United during the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in First United during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in First United by 102.1% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,524 shares of the bank’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 770 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. bought a new position in shares of First United in the second quarter valued at $102,000. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund acquired a new stake in shares of First United during the 2nd quarter valued at $105,000. Institutional investors own 33.27% of the company’s stock.

First United Stock Up 1.2%

NASDAQ:FUNC opened at $36.76 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $37.07 and a 200-day moving average of $37.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $238.94 million, a PE ratio of 9.75 and a beta of 0.54. First United has a 52 week low of $24.66 and a 52 week high of $41.94.

First United (NASDAQ:FUNC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The bank reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $23.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.80 million. First United had a return on equity of 13.33% and a net margin of 20.19%. Analysts predict that First United will post 3.75 EPS for the current year.

First United Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 17th will be given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 17th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. First United’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.59%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of First United in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy”.

First United Company Profile

First United Corporation is a bank holding company that, through its subsidiary First United Bank & Trust, provides a full suite of commercial and consumer banking services to individuals, businesses, and agricultural customers across central Oklahoma. The company offers deposit accounts such as checking, savings, money market and time deposits, alongside a variety of lending solutions covering commercial real estate, construction, agricultural and consumer loans.

In addition to traditional banking products, First United delivers treasury management and cash management solutions designed to streamline client operations, as well as online and mobile banking platforms for account access and payments.