United Community Banks, Inc. $UCB Stock Position Trimmed by Texas Permanent School Fund Corp

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp trimmed its position in shares of United Community Banks, Inc. (NYSE:UCB) by 16.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 111,950 shares of the company’s stock after selling 22,177 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp’s holdings in United Community Banks were worth $3,335,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in UCB. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of United Community Banks during the first quarter worth approximately $8,978,000. HighTower Advisors LLC bought a new stake in United Community Banks during the 1st quarter valued at $1,728,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in United Community Banks by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 101,973 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,869,000 after acquiring an additional 4,757 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its position in United Community Banks by 11.9% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 300,514 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,454,000 after acquiring an additional 31,999 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of United Community Banks by 149.3% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 886,741 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,944,000 after purchasing an additional 531,058 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.29% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other United Community Banks news, EVP Richard Bradshaw sold 1,654 shares of United Community Banks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.23, for a total value of $50,000.42. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 75,226 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,274,081.98. The trade was a 2.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of United Community Banks in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.40.

United Community Banks Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of UCB stock opened at $32.21 on Friday. United Community Banks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $22.93 and a 1 year high of $34.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 0.80. The business’s fifty day moving average is $30.61 and its 200-day moving average is $30.89. The stock has a market cap of $3.92 billion, a PE ratio of 12.78 and a beta of 0.87.

United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.05. United Community Banks had a return on equity of 9.42% and a net margin of 20.67%.The business had revenue of $276.85 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $270.85 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.57 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 27.4% on a year-over-year basis.

United Community Banks announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Monday, December 8th that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

United Community Banks Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. United Community Banks’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.68%.

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.