Legal & General Group Plc Trims Position in United Community Banks, Inc. $UCB

Legal & General Group Plc lessened its holdings in shares of United Community Banks, Inc. (NYSE:UCB) by 5.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 301,497 shares of the company’s stock after selling 15,853 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.25% of United Community Banks worth $9,421,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UCB. Ruffer LLP bought a new stake in shares of United Community Banks during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,053,000. Wesbanco Bank Inc. bought a new position in United Community Banks in the third quarter worth about $1,831,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its stake in United Community Banks by 14.4% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 473,855 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,855,000 after buying an additional 59,650 shares in the last quarter. Azora Capital LP purchased a new stake in United Community Banks in the third quarter worth about $13,423,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in United Community Banks by 1.0% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,337,524 shares of the company’s stock worth $198,681,000 after buying an additional 61,465 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on UCB shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded United Community Banks from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on United Community Banks from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $39.00 price target on shares of United Community Banks in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded 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, Stephens raised their price objective on United Community Banks from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $38.40.

United Community Banks Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UCB opened at $33.24 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.65. United Community Banks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $27.23 and a fifty-two week high of $36.77. The company has a market capitalization of $3.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.22 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82.

United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.70. United Community Banks had a return on equity of 9.65% and a net margin of 22.05%.The company had revenue of $278.27 million for the quarter. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.58 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that United Community Banks, Inc. will post 2.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

United Community Banks Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. United Community Banks’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.76%.

Insider Activity at United Community Banks

In other news, EVP Richard Bradshaw sold 1,510 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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. This trade represents a 1.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.45% of the company’s stock.

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.