QRG Capital Management Inc. Lowers Position in United Community Banks, Inc. $UCB

QRG Capital Management Inc. cut its holdings in shares of United Community Banks, Inc. (NYSE:UCB) by 5.2% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 7,626 shares of the company’s stock after selling 421 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in United Community Banks were worth $227,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. M&T Bank Corp acquired a new position in United Community Banks during the 1st quarter worth about $926,000. Amalgamated Bank acquired a new position in United Community Banks during the 1st quarter worth about $957,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in United Community Banks during the 1st quarter worth about $16,721,000. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in United Community Banks during the 1st quarter worth about $132,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in United Community Banks during the 1st quarter worth about $460,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UCB has been the topic of several research reports. DA Davidson increased their target price on United Community Banks from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of United Community Banks in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Hovde Group increased their price target on United Community Banks from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on United Community Banks from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Raymond James Financial lowered United Community Banks from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $34.57.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other United Community Banks news, EVP Richard Bradshaw sold 1,616 shares of United Community Banks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.94, for a total transaction of $49,999.04. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 78,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,425,541.30. The trade was a 2.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

United Community Banks Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE UCB opened at $30.51 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. United Community Banks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $22.93 and a fifty-two week high of $35.38. The firm has a market cap of $3.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.87 and a beta of 0.83. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $31.79.

United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $260.24 million for the quarter. United Community Banks had a return on equity of 8.91% and a net margin of 17.93%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year.

United Community Banks Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. This is a positive change from United Community Banks’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. United Community Banks’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.45%.

United Community Banks 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. The company accepts various deposit products, including checking, savings, money market, and other deposit accounts.