United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) Shares Gap Down After Earnings Miss

United Community Banks, Inc. (NYSE:UCB) gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday following a dissappointing earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $32.48, but opened at $31.33. United Community Banks shares last traded at $32.6050, with a volume of 69,291 shares traded.

The company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.73 by ($0.02). United Community Banks had a return on equity of 9.42% and a net margin of 20.67%.United Community Banks’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.61 EPS.

United Community Banks Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 5th. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. United Community Banks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.68%.

United Community Banks declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Monday, December 8th that permits the company to buyback $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 2.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of United Community Banks in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, United Community Banks has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.40.

Insider Activity

In other United Community Banks news, EVP Richard Bradshaw sold 1,654 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.23, for a total transaction of $50,000.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 75,226 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,274,081.98. This represents a 2.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of United Community Banks

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in United Community Banks by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,337,524 shares of the company’s stock worth $198,681,000 after buying an additional 61,465 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in United Community Banks by 2.0% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,879,780 shares of the company’s stock valued at $85,801,000 after acquiring an additional 56,756 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in United Community Banks by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,680,961 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,698,000 after purchasing an additional 73,775 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in United Community Banks in the second quarter valued at approximately $42,061,000. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP lifted its stake in United Community Banks by 1.0% in the second quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 899,810 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,805,000 after buying an additional 8,830 shares during the period. 82.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

United Community Banks Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $3.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.95 and a beta of 0.83. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $31.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

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.