Ritholtz Wealth Management Purchases Shares of 15,412 First United Co. (NASDAQ:FUNC)

Ritholtz Wealth Management acquired a new position in First United Co. (NASDAQ:FUNC) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 15,412 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $460,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of First United during the 1st quarter valued at about $111,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD acquired a new stake in First United during the first quarter worth about $209,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new position in First United during the first quarter valued at approximately $298,000. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in First United by 8.0% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 16,136 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $370,000 after acquiring an additional 1,192 shares during the period. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its position in First United by 103.1% in the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 22,805 shares of the bank’s stock worth $522,000 after purchasing an additional 11,576 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 33.27% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Irvin Robert Rudy sold 2,000 shares of First United stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.52, for a total transaction of $55,040.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 37,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,018,240. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 188 shares of company stock valued at $5,254. Insiders own 7.80% of the company’s stock.

First United Price Performance

First United stock opened at $31.70 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $29.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $24.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $210.77 million, a P/E ratio of 14.74 and a beta of 0.79. First United Co. has a 1 year low of $15.68 and a 1 year high of $31.70.

First United (NASDAQ:FUNC) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The bank reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.09. First United had a return on equity of 11.78% and a net margin of 13.84%. The business had revenue of $27.95 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.34 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that First United Co. will post 2.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First United Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 18th. This is a boost from First United’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. First United’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.93%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.