United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) Raised to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded United Community Banks from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on United Community Banks from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler upped their price target on United Community Banks from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded United Community Banks to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $39.40.

United Community Banks Trading Up 0.0%

UCB opened at $35.30 on Friday. United Community Banks has a 1-year low of $28.65 and a 1-year high of $37.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.26 billion, a PE ratio of 11.61 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $35.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $33.81.

United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by ($0.09). United Community Banks had a return on equity of 9.61% and a net margin of 24.43%.The company had revenue of $279.28 million for the quarter. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that United Community Banks will post 2.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Richard Bradshaw sold 1,424 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 $2,920,470.52. This trade represents a 1.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Jefferson L. Harralson sold 25,000 shares of United Community Banks stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.41, for a total transaction of $885,250.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 37,433 shares in the company, valued at $1,325,502.53. The trade was a 40.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.45% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On United Community Banks

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of UCB. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in United Community Banks by 3,935.4% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 5,578,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $195,734,000 after acquiring an additional 5,439,820 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of United Community Banks during the 2nd quarter valued at about $55,195,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of United Community Banks in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $48,450,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of United Community Banks in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $34,183,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in United Community Banks by 70.6% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,380,627 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,103,000 after purchasing an additional 571,296 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.29% of the company’s stock.

About United Community Banks

United Community Banks, Inc is the bank holding company for United Community Bank, a regional financial institution headquartered in Blairsville, Georgia. Founded in 1950, the company provides banking and financial services to individuals, businesses and institutions across the Southeastern United States.

United Community Bank offers consumer and commercial deposit accounts, residential and commercial real estate lending, business loans, mortgages, treasury management and other financial services.