First United (NASDAQ:FUNC) Upgraded to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of First United (NASDAQ:FUNC) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Saturday.

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

First United Stock Performance

NASDAQ FUNC opened at $36.90 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $37.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.45. The company has a market capitalization of $238.01 million, a P/E ratio of 9.44 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.94. First United has a 1-year low of $28.00 and a 1-year high of $41.94.

First United (NASDAQ:FUNC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The bank reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $23.41 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.83 million. First United had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 20.55%. Sell-side analysts expect that First United will post 4.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First United Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 17th were given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 17th. First United’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.60%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in FUNC. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of First United by 349.9% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 140,586 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,220,000 after buying an additional 109,340 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of First United by 53.2% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 58,718 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,763,000 after buying an additional 20,387 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of First United by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 26,549 shares of the bank’s stock worth $797,000 after buying an additional 1,656 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC raised its position in shares of First United by 67.4% in the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 26,035 shares of the bank’s stock worth $782,000 after buying an additional 10,483 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of First United by 112.3% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 139,939 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,340,000 after buying an additional 74,032 shares during the period. 33.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About First United

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.