First United (NASDAQ:FUNC) Stock Price Passes Above 200-Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

First United Co. (NASDAQ:FUNC)’s stock price crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Friday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $26.18 and traded as high as $34.75. First United shares last traded at $34.62, with a volume of 21,864 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded First United from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th.

First United Stock Up 0.2 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $26.21. The company has a market capitalization of $223.99 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.07 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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $28.17 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $20.30 million. First United had a return on equity of 12.20% and a net margin of 14.70%. As a group, equities analysts predict that First United Co. will post 3.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First United Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 18th were paid a $0.22 dividend. This is a boost from First United’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.54%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 18th. First United’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.77%.

Institutional Trading of First United

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fourthstone LLC raised its stake in shares of First United by 30.0% in the third quarter. Fourthstone LLC now owns 441,143 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $13,164,000 after acquiring an additional 101,915 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in First United by 7.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 372,330 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,603,000 after buying an additional 24,457 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in First United by 3.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 308,612 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,070,000 after buying an additional 10,800 shares during the last quarter. Gendell Jeffrey L increased its holdings in First United by 6.3% in the first quarter. Gendell Jeffrey L now owns 178,352 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,086,000 after buying an additional 10,648 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Huber Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in First United by 4.2% in the second quarter. Huber Capital Management LLC now owns 124,556 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,543,000 after buying an additional 5,000 shares during the last quarter. 33.27% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First United Company Profile

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.