Rafferty Asset Management LLC Reduces Stake in United Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:UBSI)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in United Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:UBSI) by 5.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 105,960 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,206 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in United Bankshares were worth $3,979,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in United Bankshares by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,310,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $537,362,000 after acquiring an additional 115,681 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC grew its position in United Bankshares by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 4,199,136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $157,678,000 after acquiring an additional 29,898 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in United Bankshares by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,774,018 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $66,614,000 after acquiring an additional 213,441 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in United Bankshares by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,710,588 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $64,233,000 after acquiring an additional 37,532 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its position in United Bankshares by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 1,612,170 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $60,538,000 after acquiring an additional 54,089 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $38.50 target price on shares of United Bankshares in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. StockNews.com upgraded United Bankshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on United Bankshares from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $43.00 target price on shares of United Bankshares in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.63.

Insider Activity

In other United Bankshares news, Director Sara Dumond acquired 2,600 shares of United Bankshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The stock was bought at an average price of $35.01 per share, with a total value of $91,026.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 5,054 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $176,940.54. This represents a 105.95% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 3.46% of the company’s stock.

United Bankshares Stock Performance

United Bankshares stock opened at $37.22 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $34.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. United Bankshares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.51 and a fifty-two week high of $44.43. The company has a market capitalization of $5.29 billion, a PE ratio of 13.58 and a beta of 0.74.

United Bankshares (NASDAQ:UBSI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.66 by ($0.07). United Bankshares had a net margin of 22.94% and a return on equity of 7.60%. The company had revenue of $289.61 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $279.02 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.64 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that United Bankshares, Inc. will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current year.

United Bankshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. United Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.02%.

United Bankshares Profile

United Bankshares, Inc, through its subsidiaries, primarily provides commercial and retail banking products and services in the United States. It operates through two segments, Community Banking and Mortgage Banking. The company accepts checking, savings, and time and money market accounts; individual retirement accounts; and demand deposits, statement and special savings, and NOW accounts.