Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Buys New Stake in United Community Banks, Inc. $UCB

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of United Community Banks, Inc. (NYSE:UCB) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 53,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,685,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of UCB. Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in United Community Banks by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 9,955 shares of the company’s stock worth $311,000 after buying an additional 298 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System boosted its stake in United Community Banks by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 17,808 shares of the company’s stock worth $556,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position in United Community Banks by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 11,761 shares of the company’s stock worth $367,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in United Community Banks by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,880 shares of the company’s stock worth $123,000 after purchasing an additional 372 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Patten & Patten Inc. TN increased its stake in United Community Banks by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 8,266 shares of the company’s stock valued at $258,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares during the period. 82.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

United Community Banks Trading Up 2.7%

Shares of UCB opened at $36.04 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $33.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.08. United Community Banks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $28.65 and a twelve month high of $36.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.25 and a beta of 0.81.

United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70. United Community Banks had a net margin of 22.05% and a return on equity of 9.65%. The company had revenue of $278.26 million during the quarter. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.58 earnings per share. United Community Banks’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that United Community Banks, Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United Community Banks Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. United Community Banks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.76%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of United Community Banks from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Hovde Group reduced their price objective on shares of United Community Banks from $38.00 to $37.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Zacks Research cut United Community Banks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. Wall Street Zen downgraded United Community Banks from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised United Community Banks from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $36.00 to $40.00 in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, United Community Banks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $38.40.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Richard Bradshaw sold 1,510 shares of United Community Banks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.09, for a total transaction of $49,965.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 84,497 shares in the company, valued at $2,796,005.73. The trade was a 1.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.45% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.