Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Sells 77,306 Shares of United Community Banks, Inc. $UCB

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA reduced its stake in United Community Banks, Inc. (NYSE:UCB) by 6.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,195,316 shares of the company’s stock after selling 77,306 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in United Community Banks were worth $37,318,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Daytona Street Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of United Community Banks in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $461,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of United Community Banks by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 49,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,555,000 after purchasing an additional 2,889 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of United Community Banks in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $100,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of United Community Banks by 163.9% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 56,243 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,756,000 after purchasing an additional 34,932 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new stake in shares of United Community Banks in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $742,000. 82.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other United Community Banks news, CAO Alan H. Kumler sold 12,043 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.36, for a total transaction of $425,840.48. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 21,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $745,954.56. This represents a 36.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.45% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

United Community Banks Stock Down 1.0%

NYSE UCB opened at $33.82 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.05 billion, a PE ratio of 12.96 and a beta of 0.82. United Community Banks, Inc. has a one year low of $23.77 and a one year high of $36.77. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $32.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 14th. The company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by ($0.02). United Community Banks had a return on equity of 9.49% and a net margin of 21.35%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.61 EPS.

United Community Banks Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. United Community Banks’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UCB has been the topic of several analyst reports. Hovde Group lowered United Community Banks from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $38.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of United Community Banks from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of United Community Banks from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Zacks Research lowered shares of United Community Banks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of United Community Banks from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $36.00 to $40.00 in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $39.00.

United Community Banks 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.