GSA Capital Partners LLP Acquires New Shares in United Community Banks, Inc. $UCB

GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in United Community Banks, Inc. (NYSE:UCB) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 62,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,941,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of United Community Banks by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,514,731 shares of the company’s stock valued at $453,150,000 after acquiring an additional 120,156 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of United Community Banks by 1.0% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,337,524 shares of the company’s stock valued at $198,681,000 after acquiring an additional 61,465 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of United Community Banks by 4.6% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,680,961 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,698,000 after acquiring an additional 73,775 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of United Community Banks by 125.7% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 774,660 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,286,000 after acquiring an additional 431,491 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its holdings in shares of United Community Banks by 105.9% in the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 766,552 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,031,000 after acquiring an additional 394,263 shares in the last quarter. 82.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at United Community Banks

In other news, EVP Richard Bradshaw sold 1,510 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.09, for a total transaction of $49,965.90. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 84,497 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,796,005.73. The trade was a 1.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.45% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on UCB shares. Stephens lifted their price objective on United Community Banks from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen upgraded United Community Banks from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded United Community Banks from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $36.00 to $40.00 in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Zacks Research lowered United Community Banks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $39.00 target price on shares of United Community Banks in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, United Community Banks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $38.40.

United Community Banks Price Performance

UCB opened at $32.45 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $32.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.36. United Community Banks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $27.23 and a 1 year 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. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.88 billion, a PE ratio of 11.93 and a beta of 0.83.

United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.70. United Community Banks had a return on equity of 9.65% and a net margin of 22.05%.The company had revenue of $278.27 million for the quarter. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.58 EPS. United Community Banks’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that United Community Banks, Inc. will post 2.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United Community Banks Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. United Community Banks’s payout ratio is 36.76%.

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.