USCB Financial (NASDAQ:USCB) Upgraded by Zacks Research to Strong-Buy Rating

Zacks Research upgraded shares of USCB Financial (NASDAQ:USCB) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on USCB. Hovde Group upped their target price on USCB Financial from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday. Wall Street Zen raised USCB Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of USCB Financial in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on USCB Financial from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of USCB Financial in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, USCB Financial currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $23.67.

USCB Financial Stock Down 2.8%

USCB stock opened at $22.02 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $19.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.30. The company has a market capitalization of $402.09 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.49 and a beta of 0.51. USCB Financial has a 52 week low of $16.06 and a 52 week high of $23.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

USCB Financial (NASDAQ:USCB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.49. USCB Financial had a net margin of 17.24% and a return on equity of 16.07%. The business had revenue of $27.95 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $26.74 million. On average, analysts forecast that USCB Financial will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

USCB Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be issued a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. USCB Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.89%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO La Aguilera Luis De sold 49,414 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.30, for a total transaction of $904,276.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 242,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,445,893.50. This trade represents a 16.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Ramon Abadin sold 9,000 shares of USCB Financial stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.21, for a total value of $163,890.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 24,561 shares in the company, valued at $447,255.81. The trade was a 26.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 210,970 shares of company stock valued at $3,836,454 in the last quarter. Insiders own 27.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of USCB Financial by 60.1% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 638 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of USCB Financial by 66.2% in the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 2,217 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 883 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of USCB Financial in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $41,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in USCB Financial by 100.3% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,703 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 1,854 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in USCB Financial by 2,081.3% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,210 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 4,017 shares during the period. 61.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About USCB Financial

USCB Financial (NASDAQ: USCB) is a bank holding company headquartered in Columbia, South Carolina, serving as the parent company of United Security Bank. Established to support community banking in the Midlands region, the company focuses on relationship-driven financial services tailored to both individuals and businesses. As a regional player, USCB Financial emphasizes personalized service through a network of full-service branch offices.

The company’s core business activities include commercial and consumer lending, deposit products and alternative delivery channels.