United Community Banks, Inc. (NYSE:UCB) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

United Community Banks, Inc. (NYSE:UCB) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eight analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $38.40.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of United Community Banks from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday. Zacks Research lowered shares of United Community Banks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of United Community Banks from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of United Community Banks from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of United Community Banks from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th.

United Community Banks Price Performance

UCB stock opened at $35.58 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $33.35 and a 200-day moving average of $33.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. United Community Banks has a 12 month low of $28.65 and a 12 month high of $36.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.08 and a beta of 0.82.

United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $0.70 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 $278.27 million during the quarter. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.58 earnings per share. United Community Banks’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that United Community Banks will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United Community Banks Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. United Community Banks’s payout ratio is presently 36.76%.

Insider Transactions at United Community Banks

In other United Community Banks news, EVP Richard Bradshaw sold 1,510 shares of United Community Banks stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.09, for a total transaction of $49,965.90. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.45% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On United Community Banks

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in UCB. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of United Community Banks during the 4th quarter valued at $48,450,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. bought a new stake in United Community Banks in the first quarter worth $34,183,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in United Community Banks by 70.6% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,380,627 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,103,000 after buying an additional 571,296 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in United Community Banks by 125.7% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 774,660 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,286,000 after buying an additional 431,491 shares during the period. Finally, Azora Capital LP bought a new position in shares of United Community Banks during the third quarter valued at about $13,423,000. 82.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.