United Community Banks, Inc. (NYSE:UCB) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of United Community Banks, Inc. (NYSE:UCB) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $38.40.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on UCB shares. Stephens boosted their target price on United Community Banks from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on United Community Banks from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on United Community Banks from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 15th. Weiss Ratings cut United Community Banks from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Hovde Group lowered their target price on United Community Banks from $38.00 to $37.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 27th.

United Community Banks Trading Down 0.1%

UCB stock opened at $35.58 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. United Community Banks has a 12-month low of $28.65 and a 12-month high of $36.77. The stock has a market cap of $4.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.08 and a beta of 0.82. The business’s 50-day moving average is $33.35 and its 200 day moving average is $33.01.

United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.70. The company had revenue of $278.27 million for the quarter. United Community Banks had a return on equity of 9.65% and a net margin of 22.05%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.58 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that United Community Banks will post 2.95 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. United Community Banks’s payout ratio is currently 36.76%.

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 that occurred on Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.09, for a total transaction of $49,965.90. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 84,497 shares in the company, valued at $2,796,005.73. The trade was a 1.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.45% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of United Community Banks

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in UCB. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of United Community Banks during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $48,450,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of United Community Banks during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $34,183,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of United Community Banks by 70.6% during 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 raised its position in shares of United Community Banks by 125.7% during 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 purchased a new stake in shares of United Community Banks during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $13,423,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.29% of the company’s stock.

United Community Banks Company Profile

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.