The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Acquires Shares of 65,963 United Community Banks, Inc. (NASDAQ:UCB)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new position in shares of United Community Banks, Inc. (NASDAQ:UCB) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 65,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,131,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. purchased a new stake in United Community Banks during the 4th quarter worth about $450,141,000. FMR LLC acquired a new position in United Community Banks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $310,166,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP acquired a new position in United Community Banks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $195,766,000. Capital Research Global Investors acquired a new stake in United Community Banks during the fourth quarter worth approximately $148,763,000. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in United Community Banks during the fourth quarter worth approximately $113,536,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on UCB. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of United Community Banks from $35.00 to $32.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $36.00 target price on shares of United Community Banks in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on United Community Banks from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. DA Davidson dropped their price target on United Community Banks from $38.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Hovde Group upgraded United Community Banks from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $32.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.14.

United Community Banks Stock Performance

Shares of UCB stock opened at $28.48 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $27.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $30.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.40 billion, a PE ratio of 13.96 and a beta of 0.75. United Community Banks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $22.93 and a 52-week high of $35.38.

United Community Banks Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. United Community Banks’s payout ratio is currently 45.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other United Community Banks news, Director Sally Pope Davis bought 1,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $28.19 per share, for a total transaction of $50,742.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $92,012.16. This trade represents a 122.95 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO H Lynn Harton sold 31,679 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.84, for a total value of $1,072,017.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 112,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,805,104.96. This represents a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

United Community Banks Company Profile

United Community Banks, Inc operates as the financial holding company for United Community Bank that provides financial products and services to commercial, retail, government, education, energy, health care, and real estate sectors. It accepts various deposit products, including checking, savings, money market, and other deposit accounts.