United Community Banks, Inc. $UCB Position Cut by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lowered its position in shares of United Community Banks, Inc. (NYSE:UCB) by 51.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 17,463 shares of the company’s stock after selling 18,244 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in United Community Banks were worth $547,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in United Community Banks during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. First Horizon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of United Community Banks in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of United Community Banks by 213.8% during the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,048 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 714 shares during the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new position in shares of United Community Banks during the third quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in United Community Banks by 130.9% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,951 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 1,106 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Zacks Research raised United Community Banks from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Stephens raised their price target on United Community Banks from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. DA Davidson upped their price objective 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. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of United Community Banks in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of United Community Banks from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.50.

United Community Banks Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of United Community Banks stock opened at $35.13 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $31.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.47. United Community Banks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $22.93 and a fifty-two week high of $35.72. The firm has a market cap of $4.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.46 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

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

United Community Banks Announces Dividend

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

United Community Banks announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Monday, December 8th that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 2.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Richard Bradshaw sold 1,654 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 75,226 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,274,081.98. This trade represents a 2.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.43% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.