United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) Lowered to Sell Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Saturday morning.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $39.00 price target on shares of United Community Banks in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Stephens raised their price target on shares of United Community Banks from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Zacks Research lowered shares of United Community Banks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of United Community Banks from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Hovde Group lowered their price target on shares of United Community Banks from $38.00 to $37.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $38.40.

United Community Banks Price Performance

Shares of UCB opened at $33.37 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.99 billion, a PE ratio of 12.27 and a beta of 0.83. The company’s 50-day moving average is $32.27 and its 200-day moving average is $32.22. United Community Banks has a fifty-two week low of $27.23 and a fifty-two week high of $36.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.70. The company had revenue of $276.51 million for the quarter. United Community Banks had a net margin of 22.05% and a return on equity of 9.65%. United Community Banks’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.58 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that United Community Banks will post 2.99 EPS for the current year.

United Community Banks Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. United Community Banks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other United Community Banks news, EVP Richard Bradshaw sold 1,510 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.09, for a total value of $49,965.90. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 84,497 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,796,005.73. This trade represents a 1.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.45% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On United Community Banks

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of UCB. Norges Bank bought a new position in United Community Banks in the 4th quarter valued at about $48,450,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. bought a new position in United Community Banks in the 1st quarter valued at about $34,183,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in United Community Banks by 70.6% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,380,627 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,103,000 after buying an additional 571,296 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in United Community Banks by 125.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 774,660 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,286,000 after buying an additional 431,491 shares during the period. Finally, Azora Capital LP bought a new position in United Community Banks in the 3rd quarter valued at about $13,423,000. 82.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About United Community Banks

United Community Banks, Inc (NYSE: UCB) is a bank holding company headquartered in Blairsville, Georgia. It operates primarily through its subsidiary, United Community Bank, providing a broad range of banking and financial services to individual, business and governmental customers. The company’s core offerings include deposit accounts, commercial and consumer lending, mortgage origination, treasury and cash management services, and wealth management.

In addition to traditional banking products such as checking, savings and money market accounts, United Community Bank specializes in commercial real estate financing, small business administration (SBA) loans, equipment financing and agricultural lending.