United Community Banks, Inc. (NYSE:UCB) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

United Community Banks, Inc. (NYSE:UCB) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $39.40.

Several research analysts have recently commented on UCB shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded United Community Banks from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 27th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on United Community Banks from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. TD Cowen raised shares of United Community Banks to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of United Community Banks from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of United Community Banks from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other United Community Banks news, EVP Jefferson L. Harralson sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.41, for a total value of $885,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 37,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,325,502.53. This represents a 40.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Richard Bradshaw sold 1,424 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.09, for a total value of $49,968.16. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 83,228 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,920,470.52. This represents a 1.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.45% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On United Community Banks

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Great Lakes Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in United Community Banks in the 2nd quarter worth $3,698,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in shares of United Community Banks during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,941,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in shares of United Community Banks by 365.9% during the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 114,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,615,000 after purchasing an additional 90,234 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of United Community Banks by 13.6% in the first quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 244,690 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,705,000 after purchasing an additional 29,332 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of United Community Banks by 27.6% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 747,576 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,541,000 after buying an additional 161,848 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.29% of the company’s stock.

United Community Banks Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of UCB stock opened at $35.10 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The company has a market cap of $4.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.55 and a beta of 0.81. United Community Banks has a 1 year low of $28.65 and a 1 year high of $37.18. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $35.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.79.

United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $279.28 million during the quarter. United Community Banks had a return on equity of 9.61% and a net margin of 24.43%. As a group, equities analysts predict that United Community Banks will post 2.94 earnings per share for the current year.

United Community Banks Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. This is a positive change from United Community Banks’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. United Community Banks’s payout ratio is 34.21%.

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.