United Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:UBSI) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

United Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:UBSI) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seven analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $46.60.

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research downgraded United Bankshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on United Bankshares from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Hovde Group assumed coverage on shares of United Bankshares in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $49.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of United Bankshares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, June 13th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On United Bankshares

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UBSI. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in United Bankshares by 0.3% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,741,908 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $288,076,000 after purchasing an additional 24,631 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of United Bankshares by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,802,338 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $146,030,000 after purchasing an additional 183,950 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of United Bankshares during the 4th quarter valued at $68,366,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of United Bankshares by 20.5% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,631,894 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $67,593,000 after buying an additional 277,836 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in United Bankshares by 74.7% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,625,205 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,408,000 after acquiring an additional 694,953 shares during the last quarter. 70.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

United Bankshares Price Performance

UBSI stock opened at $46.38 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $44.04 and a 200-day moving average of $42.43. The company has a market cap of $6.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.99 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. United Bankshares has a 12-month low of $34.10 and a 12-month high of $47.25.

United Bankshares (NASDAQ:UBSI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.04. United Bankshares had a net margin of 27.45% and a return on equity of 9.26%. The business had revenue of $316.58 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $315.15 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.59 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that United Bankshares will post 3.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

United Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th were issued a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 12th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. United Bankshares’s payout ratio is 42.58%.

About United Bankshares

United Bankshares, Inc, headquartered in Charleston, West Virginia, is a bank holding company that provides a full range of financial services through its primary subsidiary, United Bank. The company’s core offerings include retail and commercial banking products such as checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, personal and business loans, mortgages, and treasury management services. In addition, United Bankshares delivers private banking, wealth management, trust and fiduciary solutions, and investment advisory services to meet the needs of individual, corporate, and institutional clients.

United Bankshares operates an extensive branch network across West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, the District of Columbia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina.