United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at TD Cowen

United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) was upgraded by equities researchers at TD Cowen to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Hovde Group decreased their price objective on United Community Banks from $38.00 to $37.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of United Community Banks from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 27th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of United Community Banks from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of United Community Banks from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $36.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of United Community Banks from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, United Community Banks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $38.40.

United Community Banks Stock Performance

NYSE:UCB opened at $37.04 on Thursday. United Community Banks has a 52 week low of $28.65 and a 52 week high of $37.18. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market cap of $4.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.62 and a beta of 0.81.

United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70. United Community Banks had a return on equity of 9.65% and a net margin of 22.05%.The firm had revenue of $278.26 million during the quarter. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.58 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that United Community Banks will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at United Community Banks

In other news, EVP Richard Bradshaw sold 1,510 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.09, for a total value of $49,965.90. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 84,497 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,796,005.73. This represents a 1.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.45% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On United Community Banks

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 120,156 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in United Community Banks by 2.9% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,520,132 shares of the company’s stock worth $205,315,000 after purchasing an additional 182,397 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of United Community Banks by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,805,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,362,000 after buying an additional 124,347 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of United Community Banks during the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,450,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.29% of the company’s stock.

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.