United Community Banks, Inc. (NYSE:UCB) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

United Community Banks, Inc. (NYSE:UCB) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eight research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $38.40.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on UCB shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of United Community Banks from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $36.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of United Community Banks from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 17th. Hovde Group cut their price objective on shares of United Community Banks from $38.00 to $37.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Zacks Research cut shares of United Community Banks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Finally, Stephens upped their price objective on shares of United Community Banks from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th.

Insider Activity at United Community Banks

In other news, EVP Richard Bradshaw sold 1,510 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.09, for a total value of $49,965.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 84,497 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,796,005.73. This represents a 1.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.45% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in UCB. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in shares of United Community Banks in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of United Community Banks by 196.1% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 992 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 657 shares during the last quarter. Torren Management LLC bought a new position in shares of United Community Banks in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. First Horizon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of United Community Banks by 51.7% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 1,315 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 448 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of United Community Banks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Institutional investors own 82.29% of the company’s stock.

United Community Banks Trading Down 2.1%

UCB opened at $32.26 on Thursday. United Community Banks has a twelve month low of $27.23 and a twelve month high of $36.77. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $32.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.86 and a beta of 0.82.

United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.70. United Community Banks had a net margin of 22.05% and a return on equity of 9.65%. The business had revenue of $278.27 million during the quarter. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.58 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that United Community Banks will post 2.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

United Community Banks Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. United Community Banks’s dividend payout ratio is 36.76%.

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.