United Community Banks, Inc. (UCB) – What Are Brokerages Saying About This Stock?

United Community Banks, Inc. (NYSE:UCB – Get Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the eight research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have assigned a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $40.00.

UCB has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of United Community Banks from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 16th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of United Community Banks in a research report on Friday, September 25th. TD Cowen upgraded United Community Banks to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. DA Davidson upped their target price on United Community Banks from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised United Community Banks from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 12th.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on United Community Banks

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other United Community Banks news, EVP Richard Bradshaw sold 1,345 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.17, for a total value of $49,993.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 82,054 shares in the company, valued at $3,049,947.18. This represents a 1.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.45% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On United Community Banks

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in UCB. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in United Community Banks by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,520,132 shares of the company’s stock valued at $205,315,000 after acquiring an additional 182,397 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in United Community Banks during the second quarter valued at approximately $55,195,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in United Community Banks by 32.3% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 766,598 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,140,000 after acquiring an additional 187,210 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in United Community Banks by 27.6% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 747,576 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,541,000 after acquiring an additional 161,848 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in United Community Banks by 10.1% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 446,292 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,054,000 after purchasing an additional 40,782 shares in the last quarter. 82.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

United Community Banks Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of NYSE:UCB opened at $36.70 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $34.83 and its 200 day moving average is $34.07. United Community Banks has a 12-month low of $28.65 and a 12-month high of $37.45. The stock has a market cap of $4.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.10 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 20th. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77. The firm had revenue of $291.90 million for the quarter. United Community Banks had a net margin of 9.06% and a return on equity of 9.66%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that United Community Banks will post 3.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United Community Banks Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th were given a $0.26 dividend. This is an increase from United Community Banks’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 15th. United Community Banks’s payout ratio is presently 88.14%.

United Community Banks Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

United Community Banks, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Blairsville, Georgia. Through its principal subsidiary, United Community Bank, the company provides banking and financial services to consumers, businesses and communities primarily across the Southeastern United States.

United Community Bank offers deposit accounts, consumer and commercial lending, residential mortgages, credit cards, online and mobile banking, treasury management and other financial services. Its lending activities include commercial real estate, business, construction, residential and consumer loans.

See Also

Analyst Recommendations for United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB)

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