United Community Banks, Inc. (NYSE:UCB) Receives $38.00 Average Target Price from Brokerages

United Community Banks, Inc. (NYSE:UCB) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seven brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $38.00.

Several research firms have recently commented on UCB. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of United Community Banks from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Hovde Group downgraded 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. Stephens upped their price objective 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. Zacks Research cut United Community Banks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price 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.

United Community Banks Stock Performance

Shares of UCB stock opened at $30.05 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $33.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market cap of $3.59 billion, a PE ratio of 11.51 and a beta of 0.84. United Community Banks has a 1 year low of $22.93 and a 1 year high of $36.77.

United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 14th. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 company’s revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.61 EPS.

United Community Banks Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. United Community Banks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.31%.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other United Community Banks news, CAO Alan H. Kumler sold 12,043 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.36, for a total transaction of $425,840.48. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 21,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $745,954.56. This represents a 36.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On United Community Banks

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in United Community Banks by 7.0% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 55,319 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,557,000 after buying an additional 3,617 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of United Community Banks by 176.2% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 26,530 shares of the company’s stock worth $746,000 after acquiring an additional 16,925 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in United Community Banks by 4.6% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 71,211 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,003,000 after purchasing an additional 3,115 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in United Community Banks during the first quarter worth approximately $219,000. Finally, United Services Automobile Association purchased a new position in United Community Banks during the first quarter worth approximately $204,000. 82.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About United Community Banks

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.