United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) Upgraded to “Outperform” at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) was upgraded by research analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a $40.00 price target on the stock, up from their prior price target of $36.00. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ target price suggests a potential upside of 19.50% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also commented on UCB. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of United Community Banks from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Weiss Ratings raised United Community Banks from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Stephens upped their price target on United Community Banks from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Hovde Group lowered United Community Banks from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $38.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered United Community Banks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $39.00.

United Community Banks Trading Up 3.1%

NYSE:UCB opened at $33.47 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $32.74 and a 200 day moving average of $31.91. United Community Banks has a 52 week low of $22.93 and a 52 week high of $36.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.83 and a beta of 0.82.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Alan H. Kumler sold 12,043 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.36, for a total value of $425,840.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 21,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $745,954.56. This represents a 36.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. First Horizon Corp bought a new position in shares of United Community Banks in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of United Community Banks in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in shares of United Community Banks by 196.1% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 992 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 657 shares during the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new stake in shares of United Community Banks in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Torren Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of United Community Banks in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Institutional investors own 82.29% of the company’s stock.

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.