Analysts Set United Community Banks, Inc. (NYSE:UCB) PT at $38.40

United Community Banks, Inc. (NYSE:UCB) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $38.40.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Hovde Group lowered their price target on United Community Banks from $38.00 to $37.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on United Community Banks from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded United Community Banks from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $36.00 to $40.00 in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Zacks Research downgraded United Community Banks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded United Community Banks from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, May 17th.

United Community Banks Price Performance

UCB stock opened at $32.93 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $32.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $32.56. United Community Banks has a 12-month low of $27.23 and a 12-month high of $36.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market cap of $3.94 billion, a PE ratio of 12.10 and a beta of 0.83.

United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70. United Community Banks had a return on equity of 9.65% and a net margin of 22.05%.The firm had revenue of $278.27 million during the quarter. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.58 EPS. United Community Banks’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that United Community Banks will post 2.99 EPS for the current year.

United Community Banks Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at United Community Banks

In related news, EVP Richard Bradshaw sold 1,510 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,796,005.73. This represents a 1.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.45% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of United Community Banks

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UCB. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in United Community Banks by 7.0% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 55,319 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,557,000 after purchasing an additional 3,617 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of United Community Banks by 176.2% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 26,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $746,000 after acquiring an additional 16,925 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in shares of United Community Banks by 4.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 71,211 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,003,000 after acquiring an additional 3,115 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of United Community Banks during the first quarter valued at about $219,000. Finally, United Services Automobile Association acquired a new stake in shares of United Community Banks during the first quarter valued at about $204,000. 82.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.