United Community Banks, Inc. $UCB Stock Position Decreased by SG Americas Securities LLC

SG Americas Securities LLC decreased its holdings in shares of United Community Banks, Inc. (NYSE:UCB) by 29.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 39,435 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,808 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in United Community Banks were worth $1,242,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of United Community Banks by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,514,731 shares of the company’s stock valued at $453,150,000 after purchasing an additional 120,156 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of United Community Banks by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,337,524 shares of the company’s stock worth $198,681,000 after purchasing an additional 61,465 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of United Community Banks by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,805,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,362,000 after purchasing an additional 124,347 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of United Community Banks in the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,450,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in United Community Banks by 70.6% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,380,627 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,103,000 after purchasing an additional 571,296 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.29% of the company’s stock.

United Community Banks Stock Performance

Shares of UCB opened at $35.52 on Friday. United Community Banks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $28.65 and a 52-week high of $36.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.25 billion, a PE ratio of 13.06 and a beta of 0.81. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $33.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting 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 period in the prior year, the company posted $0.58 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that United Community Banks, Inc. will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United Community Banks Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on UCB shares. DA Davidson increased their target price on United Community Banks from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Stephens boosted their price target on shares of United Community Banks from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of United Community Banks from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of United Community Banks from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $36.00 to $40.00 in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of United Community Banks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, United Community Banks presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $38.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other United Community Banks news, EVP Richard Bradshaw sold 1,510 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.09, for a total value of $49,965.90. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 84,497 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,796,005.73. This represents a 1.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.45% of the company’s stock.

United Community Banks Company 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.