Brokerages Set United Community Banks, Inc. (NYSE:UCB) Price Target at $38.80

Shares of United Community Banks, Inc. (NYSE:UCB) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $38.80.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on UCB shares. TD Cowen raised shares of United Community Banks to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Wall Street Zen lowered United Community Banks from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 27th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of United Community Banks in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings raised United Community Banks from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $37.00 target price on shares of United Community Banks in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd.

Insider Buying and Selling at United Community Banks

In other news, EVP Richard Bradshaw sold 1,424 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Jefferson L. Harralson sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.41, for a total transaction of $885,250.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 37,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,325,502.53. The trade was a 40.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.45% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of United Community Banks

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of United Community Banks by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,514,731 shares of the company’s stock worth $453,150,000 after acquiring an additional 120,156 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in United Community Banks by 2.9% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,520,132 shares of the company’s stock valued at $205,315,000 after purchasing an additional 182,397 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in United Community Banks by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,805,308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,362,000 after purchasing an additional 124,347 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in United Community Banks during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $55,195,000. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in United Community Banks during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $48,450,000. 82.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

United Community Banks Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of UCB stock opened at $36.68 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $4.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.07 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. United Community Banks has a fifty-two week low of $28.65 and a fifty-two week high of $37.18. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $35.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.76.

United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $279.28 million for the quarter. On average, analysts anticipate that United Community Banks will post 2.93 EPS for the current year.

United Community Banks Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. This is an increase from United Community Banks’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. United Community Banks’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.89%.

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.