First United Co. (NASDAQ:FUNC) Announces $0.22 Quarterly Dividend

First United Co. (NASDAQ:FUNC) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, March 5th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Thursday, April 17th will be given a dividend of 0.22 per share by the bank on Thursday, May 1st. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.62%.

First United has increased its dividend by an average of 11.9% annually over the last three years. First United has a payout ratio of 21.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect First United to earn $4.20 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.88 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 21.0%.

First United Stock Performance

Shares of FUNC stock traded down $0.66 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $33.59. The stock had a trading volume of 8,015 shares, compared to its average volume of 33,484. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $34.98 and its 200 day moving average is $32.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $217.29 million, a PE ratio of 10.66 and a beta of 0.81. First United has a twelve month low of $19.17 and a twelve month high of $42.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.94.

First United (NASDAQ:FUNC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The bank reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.09. First United had a return on equity of 12.51% and a net margin of 18.45%. As a group, research analysts forecast that First United will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on FUNC. StockNews.com raised First United from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Raymond James upgraded shares of First United from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 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.