Zacks Research Downgrades United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) to Hold

United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) was downgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

UCB has been the subject of several other research reports. Stephens increased their target price on United Community Banks from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Weiss Ratings upgraded United Community Banks from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of United Community Banks from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Hovde Group cut United Community Banks from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $38.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price objective on United Community Banks from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, United Community Banks currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.00.

United Community Banks Stock Performance

Shares of UCB opened at $29.72 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $33.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $32.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. United Community Banks has a 52 week low of $22.93 and a 52 week high of $36.77. The company has a market capitalization of $3.55 billion, a PE ratio of 11.39 and a beta of 0.84.

United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 14th. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.73 by ($0.02). United Community Banks had a net margin of 21.35% and a return on equity of 9.49%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.61 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis.

United Community Banks announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Monday, December 8th that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at United Community Banks

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On United Community Banks

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of United Community Banks in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. First Horizon Corp bought a new stake in United Community Banks during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in United Community Banks during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in shares of United Community Banks by 196.1% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 992 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 657 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new stake in shares of United Community Banks during the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. Institutional investors own 82.29% of the company’s stock.

United Community Banks Company 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.