United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) EVP Sells $49,968.16 in Stock

United Community Banks, Inc. (NYSE:UCB) EVP Richard Bradshaw sold 1,424 shares of United Community Banks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.09, for a total transaction of $49,968.16. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 83,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,920,470.52. The trade was a 1.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

United Community Banks Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of United Community Banks stock opened at $35.34 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.23 billion, a PE ratio of 11.62 and a beta of 0.81. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $34.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.57. United Community Banks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $28.65 and a 1 year high of $37.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.80 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $279.28 million for the quarter. United Community Banks had a return on equity of 9.61% and a net margin of 24.43%. Equities research analysts predict that United Community Banks, Inc. will post 2.93 earnings per share for the current year.

United Community Banks Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. United Community Banks’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.89%.

Institutional Trading of United Community Banks

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in shares of United Community Banks by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 9,955 shares of the company’s stock valued at $311,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of United Community Banks by 13.2% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,894 shares of the company’s stock worth $102,000 after purchasing an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System raised its position in shares of 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 last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in United Community Banks by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 11,761 shares of the company’s stock valued at $367,000 after buying an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in United Community Banks by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,880 shares of the company’s stock valued at $123,000 after buying an additional 372 shares in the last quarter. 82.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen cut United Community Banks from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 27th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of United Community Banks from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of United Community Banks from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $36.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Stephens lifted their target price 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. Finally, Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $37.00 price target on shares of United Community Banks in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, United Community Banks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $38.80.

About United Community Banks

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.