USCB Financial (NASDAQ:USCB) Downgraded to Hold Rating by Zacks Research

Zacks Research downgraded shares of USCB Financial (NASDAQ:USCB) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Separately, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of USCB Financial in a report on Monday, December 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $22.00.

USCB Financial Stock Up 4.0%

NASDAQ:USCB opened at $18.73 on Wednesday. USCB Financial has a one year low of $15.39 and a one year high of $20.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The company has a market cap of $339.20 million, a PE ratio of 14.41 and a beta of 0.60. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $18.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.80.

USCB Financial (NASDAQ:USCB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $25.53 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.34 million. USCB Financial had a net margin of 16.36% and a return on equity of 14.78%. On average, research analysts anticipate that USCB Financial will post 1.58 earnings per share for the current year.

USCB Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.125 per share. This is an increase from USCB Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 17th. USCB Financial’s payout ratio is 30.77%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director W Kirk Wycoff sold 82,043 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.56, for a total transaction of $1,522,718.08. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,895,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,176,508.16. This trade represents a 4.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In the last quarter, insiders sold 179,623 shares of company stock worth $3,303,784. 49.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On USCB Financial

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Patriot Financial Partners GP II L.P. acquired a new position in USCB Financial during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,527,000. Endeavour Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in USCB Financial by 0.5% in the third quarter. Endeavour Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,247,211 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,764,000 after acquiring an additional 6,262 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in shares of USCB Financial by 9.0% in the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 973,088 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,095,000 after purchasing an additional 79,983 shares during the period. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp increased its position in USCB Financial by 3.1% in the second quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp now owns 691,048 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,430,000 after buying an additional 20,870 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of USCB Financial by 1.7% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 248,716 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,114,000 after buying an additional 4,242 shares during the period. 61.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

USCB Financial Company Profile

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.