Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Sells 188,520 Shares of United Community Banks, Inc. $UCB

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA reduced its position in United Community Banks, Inc. (NYSE:UCB) by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,272,622 shares of the company’s stock after selling 188,520 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 1.05% of United Community Banks worth $39,897,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of United Community Banks during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,061,000. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. bought a new position in United Community Banks in the second quarter valued at approximately $5,362,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in United Community Banks by 427.6% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 139,984 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,170,000 after purchasing an additional 113,454 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its position in United Community Banks by 35.7% during the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 372,289 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,090,000 after purchasing an additional 97,851 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in United Community Banks by 6.2% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,607,186 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,878,000 after purchasing an additional 93,853 shares during the last quarter. 82.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on UCB. Zacks Research upgraded United Community Banks from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of United Community Banks in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on United Community Banks from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Stephens boosted their target price on United Community Banks from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of United Community Banks from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Richard Bradshaw sold 1,654 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.23, for a total transaction of $50,000.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 75,226 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,274,081.98. This trade represents a 2.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

United Community Banks Price Performance

United Community Banks stock opened at $35.15 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $31.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.44. United Community Banks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $22.93 and a 12 month high of $35.37. The company has a market capitalization of $4.27 billion, a PE ratio of 13.47 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 14th. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.73 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $278.39 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $273.80 million. United Community Banks had a net margin of 21.35% and a return on equity of 9.49%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.61 EPS.

United Community Banks Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. United Community Banks’s dividend payout ratio is 38.31%.

United Community Banks declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program 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 programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.