United Community Banks, Inc. $UCB Stock Purchased by ProShare Advisors LLC

ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of United Community Banks, Inc. (NYSE:UCB) by 40.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 297,968 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 86,023 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC owned about 0.25% of United Community Banks worth $9,937,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of United Community Banks in the 2nd quarter valued at $55,195,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of United Community Banks by 32.3% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 766,598 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,140,000 after acquiring an additional 187,210 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of United Community Banks by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,520,132 shares of the company’s stock valued at $205,315,000 after acquiring an additional 182,397 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in United Community Banks by 27.6% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 747,576 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,541,000 after acquiring an additional 161,848 shares during the period. Finally, Great Lakes Advisors LLC bought a new stake in United Community Banks in the second quarter valued at about $3,698,000. Institutional investors own 82.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Richard Bradshaw sold 1,345 shares of United Community Banks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.17, for a total value of $49,993.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 82,054 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,049,947.18. The trade was a 1.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.45% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UCB has been the subject of several recent research reports. Stephens increased their price target on shares of United Community Banks from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. Zacks Research raised United Community Banks from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded United Community Banks from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on United Community Banks from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their target price on United Community Banks from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, United Community Banks currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $40.00.

United Community Banks Stock Down 1.6%

UCB opened at $37.04 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.02 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $34.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.11. United Community Banks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $28.79 and a twelve month high of $37.93.

United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 20th. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.77. The firm had revenue of $291.90 million during the quarter. United Community Banks had a net margin of 9.06% and a return on equity of 9.66%. Equities research analysts anticipate that United Community Banks, Inc. will post 3.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

United Community Banks Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 5th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 15th. This is a positive change from United Community Banks’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. United Community Banks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 88.14%.

About United Community Banks

United Community Banks, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Blairsville, Georgia. Through its principal subsidiary, United Community Bank, the company provides banking and financial services to consumers, businesses and communities primarily across the Southeastern United States.

United Community Bank offers deposit accounts, consumer and commercial lending, residential mortgages, credit cards, online and mobile banking, treasury management and other financial services. Its lending activities include commercial real estate, business, construction, residential and consumer loans.