Piper Sandler Issues Positive Forecast for United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) Stock Price

United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) had its price target increased by Piper Sandler from $35.00 to $36.00 in a report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Piper Sandler currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Hovde Group cut shares of United Community Banks from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $38.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Stephens raised their price target on shares of United Community Banks from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Zacks Research cut shares of United Community Banks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of United Community Banks from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $36.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of United Community Banks from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Four equities 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 an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $38.40.

United Community Banks Price Performance

Shares of UCB opened at $32.86 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.08 and a beta of 0.82. United Community Banks has a twelve month low of $26.24 and a twelve month high of $36.77. The company has a 50 day moving average of $32.42 and a 200-day moving average of $32.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.70. The company had revenue of $277.30 million during the quarter. United Community Banks had a net margin of 22.05% and a return on equity of 9.65%. United Community Banks’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.58 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that United Community Banks will post 3.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

United Community Banks Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. United Community Banks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at United Community Banks

In related news, CAO Alan H. Kumler sold 12,043 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.36, for a total value of $425,840.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 21,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $745,954.56. This trade represents a 36.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.45% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On United Community Banks

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in UCB. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of United Community Banks by 7.0% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 55,319 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,557,000 after buying an additional 3,617 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of United Community Banks by 176.2% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 26,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $746,000 after buying an additional 16,925 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in shares of United Community Banks by 4.6% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 71,211 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,003,000 after buying an additional 3,115 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in shares of United Community Banks in the first quarter valued at $219,000. Finally, United Services Automobile Association acquired a new stake in United Community Banks during the 1st quarter valued at $204,000. 82.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting United Community Banks

Here are the key news stories impacting United Community Banks this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 results: UCB reported Q1 net income of $84.3M, adjusted EPS $0.70 (in line with consensus) and revenue of $277.3M (+11.6% YoY); management signaled a 3–5 bps NIM expansion for Q2 — constructive core operating performance. Press Release / Slide Deck
• Positive Sentiment: Acquisition: United will acquire Peach State Bancshares in a stock‑and‑cash deal (~$100.8M) that management expects meaningful cost savings (reports cite ~40% cost saving opportunities) — adds local scale and revenue opportunities. Merger Agreement
• Positive Sentiment: Revenue/margin headlines: Multiple outlets flagged revenue topping estimates and margin gains, supporting the narrative of improving operating momentum. Investing.com: Revenue Beats
• Neutral Sentiment: Piper Sandler raised its price target to $36 but kept a “neutral” rating — the PT implies modest upside but the analyst stance is cautious. Piper Sandler PT Note
• Neutral Sentiment: Some coverage emphasized that EPS roughly met Street expectations (consensus $0.70) and highlighted slides/transcript from the earnings call for details — useful for investors but not market-moving by itself. Earnings Call Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Critical analysis: A Seeking Alpha piece argues Q1 results and the Peach State acquisition are “not quite enough” to justify UCB’s valuation (forward P/E ~11.5, 1.48x P/TBV) — suggests the deal is too small to change the investment case and flags valuation risk. Seeking Alpha: Critical Analysis
• Negative Sentiment: Minor data points: at least one outlet noted a slight miss versus a specific Zacks estimate (EPS $0.71 vs. reported $0.70) — contributes to mixed headlines and may temper near-term upside. Zacks: Miss Note

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.