Hovde Group Increases United Community Banks (NASDAQ:UCB) Price Target to $36.00

United Community Banks (NASDAQ:UCB) had its price objective hoisted by analysts at Hovde Group from $35.00 to $36.00 in a report released on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. Hovde Group’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 14.12% from the company’s previous close.

UCB has been the topic of a number of other reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of United Community Banks from $35.00 to $32.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $36.00 price target on shares of United Community Banks in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Raymond James Financial reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of United Community Banks in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their target price on United Community Banks from $38.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, United Community Banks presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $34.29.

United Community Banks Trading Up 0.6%

NASDAQ UCB opened at $31.55 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.46 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. United Community Banks has a one year low of $22.93 and a one year high of $35.38. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $29.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $29.63.

United Community Banks (NASDAQ:UCB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.05. United Community Banks had a net margin of 16.48% and a return on equity of 8.64%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that United Community Banks will post 2.52 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UCB. Vanguard Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of United Community Banks during the fourth quarter valued at $450,141,000. FMR LLC acquired a new stake in shares of United Community Banks in the 4th quarter worth about $310,166,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP bought a new stake in United Community Banks in the 4th quarter valued at about $195,766,000. Capital Research Global Investors acquired a new position in United Community Banks during the 4th quarter valued at about $148,763,000. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC bought a new position in United Community Banks in the 4th quarter worth about $113,536,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.29% of the company’s stock.

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