United Community Banks, Inc. $UCB Shares Sold by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its position in shares of United Community Banks, Inc. (NYSE:UCB) by 51.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,463 shares of the company’s stock after selling 18,244 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in United Community Banks were worth $547,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in United Community Banks during the 2nd quarter worth $42,061,000. Stieven Capital Advisors L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of United Community Banks during the second quarter valued at about $5,362,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of United Community Banks by 427.6% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 139,984 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,170,000 after acquiring an additional 113,454 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its position in shares of United Community Banks by 35.7% during the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 372,289 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,090,000 after acquiring an additional 97,851 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in United Community Banks by 6.2% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,607,186 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,878,000 after purchasing an additional 93,853 shares during the last quarter. 82.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Richard Bradshaw sold 1,654 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.23, for a total transaction of $50,000.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 75,226 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,274,081.98. This represents a 2.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.43% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

United Community Banks Stock Performance

Shares of UCB opened at $35.13 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.27 billion, a PE ratio of 13.46 and a beta of 0.83. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $31.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. United Community Banks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $22.93 and a 12-month high of $35.72.

United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 14th. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by ($0.02). United Community Banks had a return on equity of 9.49% and a net margin of 21.35%.The business had revenue of $278.39 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $273.80 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.61 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis.

United Community Banks declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Monday, December 8th that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 2.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

United Community Banks Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. United Community Banks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UCB has been the topic of several analyst reports. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on United Community Banks from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of United Community Banks from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of United Community Banks from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of United Community Banks in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of United Community Banks from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, United Community Banks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.50.

United Community Banks 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.