First United (NASDAQ:FUNC) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Hovde Group

Hovde Group began coverage on shares of First United (NASDAQ:FUNC) in a research report sent to investors on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm issued an outperform rating and a $44.50 price objective on the bank’s stock.

Separately, Wall Street Zen upgraded First United from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, First United presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $44.50.

First United Price Performance

First United stock opened at $39.54 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.63. First United has a 52 week low of $28.00 and a 52 week high of $41.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a market cap of $255.03 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.11 and a beta of 0.52.

First United (NASDAQ:FUNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The bank reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.10. First United had a return on equity of 13.39% and a net margin of 20.55%.The firm had revenue of $23.41 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.83 million. On average, research analysts forecast that First United will post 4.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First United Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 1st. Investors of record on Friday, April 17th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 17th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. First United’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.60%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First United

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. De Lisle Partners LLP boosted its holdings in First United by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. De Lisle Partners LLP now owns 155,390 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,804,000 after acquiring an additional 5,000 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in First United by 349.9% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 140,586 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,220,000 after acquiring an additional 109,340 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in First United by 112.3% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 139,939 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,340,000 after acquiring an additional 74,032 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in First United by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 101,118 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,718,000 after purchasing an additional 1,194 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp increased its holdings in First United by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 85,376 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,196,000 after purchasing an additional 5,988 shares during the period. 33.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.