First United Co. (NASDAQ:FUNC) Shares Sold by Basswood Capital Management L.L.C.

Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. cut its stake in shares of First United Co. (NASDAQ:FUNC) by 1.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 153,540 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 1,945 shares during the quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. owned about 2.37% of First United worth $4,582,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in First United during the third quarter worth about $97,000. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of First United during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $202,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD acquired a new stake in shares of First United in the 1st quarter worth approximately $209,000. Ritholtz Wealth Management purchased a new position in First United in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $460,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in First United by 5.4% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 23,713 shares of the bank’s stock worth $708,000 after purchasing an additional 1,206 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 33.27% of the company’s stock.

First United Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FUNC opened at $35.64 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $32.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.11. First United Co. has a 52 week low of $18.45 and a 52 week high of $35.89. The stock has a market cap of $230.59 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.49 and a beta of 0.78.

First United (NASDAQ:FUNC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The bank reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.10. First United had a net margin of 14.70% and a return on equity of 12.20%. The business had revenue of $28.17 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.30 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that First United Co. will post 3.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First United Announces Dividend

The business 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 2.47%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. First United’s payout ratio is 35.77%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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