United Bankshares (NASDAQ:UBSI) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

United Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:UBSI) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $40.45 and last traded at $40.2670, with a volume of 446755 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $39.50.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Zacks Research upgraded United Bankshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Piper Sandler set a $42.50 price objective on shares of United Bankshares and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of United Bankshares in a report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, United Bankshares has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $41.83.

United Bankshares Stock Up 1.9%

The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $36.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.92. The company has a market cap of $5.65 billion, a PE ratio of 13.19 and a beta of 0.81.

United Bankshares (NASDAQ:UBSI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.92 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $280.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $307.78 million. United Bankshares had a net margin of 24.37% and a return on equity of 8.15%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.70 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that United Bankshares, Inc. will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current year.

United Bankshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be given a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. This is a boost from United Bankshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. United Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.84%.

Institutional Trading of United Bankshares

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UBSI. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of United Bankshares by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,741,908 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $288,076,000 after buying an additional 24,631 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of United Bankshares by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 4,214,634 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $146,121,000 after purchasing an additional 15,498 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of United Bankshares by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,624,628 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $134,872,000 after purchasing an additional 42,255 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of United Bankshares by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,590,552 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $130,817,000 after purchasing an additional 110,305 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in United Bankshares by 367.5% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,935,979 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $70,528,000 after buying an additional 1,521,864 shares during the period. 70.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About United Bankshares

United Bankshares, Inc, through its subsidiaries, primarily provides commercial and retail banking products and services in the United States. It operates through two segments, Community Banking and Mortgage Banking. The company accepts checking, savings, and time and money market accounts; individual retirement accounts; and demand deposits, statement and special savings, and NOW accounts.