Barclays PLC Increases Position in First United Co. (NASDAQ:FUNC)

Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of First United Co. (NASDAQ:FUNC) by 122.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 9,374 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,156 shares during the period. Barclays PLC’s holdings in First United were worth $317,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of First United by 31.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 15,440 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $520,000 after buying an additional 3,683 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its stake in First United by 34.9% during the 4th quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 20,786 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $701,000 after acquiring an additional 5,374 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP boosted its holdings in shares of First United by 22.4% during the 4th quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 21,156 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $713,000 after acquiring an additional 3,870 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of First United by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 24,893 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $839,000 after acquiring an additional 1,180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Angel Oak Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of First United in the fourth quarter worth approximately $934,000. 33.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

First United Price Performance

FUNC stock opened at $31.49 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.94. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $29.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $32.93. First United Co. has a one year low of $19.17 and a one year high of $42.50. The company has a market capitalization of $203.83 million, a PE ratio of 10.00 and a beta of 0.59.

First United (NASDAQ:FUNC) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 21st. The bank reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by $0.09. First United had a net margin of 18.45% and a return on equity of 12.51%. The firm had revenue of $20.84 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.63 million. On average, equities analysts anticipate that First United Co. will post 3.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

First United Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 17th. First United’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on FUNC shares. 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. StockNews.com upgraded First United from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday.

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.