United Community Banks, Inc. (NYSE:UCB) Receives $37.50 Average Target Price from Analysts

United Community Banks, Inc. (NYSE:UCB) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the seven brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $37.50.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on UCB shares. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of United Community Banks from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of United Community Banks in a report on Wednesday. Zacks Research raised United Community Banks from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on United Community Banks from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their target price on United Community Banks from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th.

United Community Banks Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UCB opened at $33.89 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $32.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The company has a market cap of $4.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.98 and a beta of 0.83. United Community Banks has a 1-year low of $22.93 and a 1-year high of $35.72.

United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 14th. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $278.39 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $273.80 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.61 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis.

United Community Banks announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Monday, December 8th that permits the company to buyback $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 2.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

United Community Banks Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 5th. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. United Community Banks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.31%.

Insider Activity

In other United Community Banks news, CAO Alan H. Kumler sold 12,043 shares of United Community Banks stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.36, for a total transaction of $425,840.48. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 21,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $745,954.56. The trade was a 36.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of United Community Banks

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in United Community Banks during the second quarter worth about $42,061,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of United Community Banks by 125.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 774,660 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,286,000 after acquiring an additional 431,491 shares during the period. Azora Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of United Community Banks during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $13,423,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its stake in shares of United Community Banks by 105.9% during the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 766,552 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,031,000 after acquiring an additional 394,263 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in United Community Banks in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $6,281,000. 82.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.