Richard Bradshaw Sells 1,424 Shares of United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) Stock

United Community Banks, Inc. (NYSE:UCB) EVP Richard Bradshaw sold 1,424 shares of United Community Banks stock in a transaction on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.09, for a total transaction of $49,968.16. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 83,228 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,920,470.52. This represents a 1.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

United Community Banks Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE UCB opened at $35.58 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $34.42 and its 200-day moving average is $33.55. United Community Banks, Inc. has a one year low of $28.65 and a one year high of $37.18. The firm has a market cap of $4.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.70 and a beta of 0.81.

United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by ($0.09). United Community Banks had a return on equity of 9.61% and a net margin of 24.43%.The business had revenue of $279.28 million for the quarter. Sell-side analysts anticipate that United Community Banks, Inc. will post 2.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United Community Banks Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. United Community Banks’s payout ratio is 32.89%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on UCB shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded United Community Banks from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, June 27th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price target on shares of United Community Banks in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Hovde Group decreased their price target on shares of United Community Banks from $38.00 to $37.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of United Community Banks from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $36.00 to $40.00 in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of United Community Banks to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, United Community Banks has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $38.80.

Institutional Trading of United Community Banks

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in United Community Banks by 18.8% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,496 shares of the company’s stock valued at $263,000 after purchasing an additional 1,186 shares in the last quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division raised its stake in shares of United Community Banks by 14.2% during the 2nd quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 26,568 shares of the company’s stock worth $932,000 after purchasing an additional 3,313 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of United Community Banks by 13.2% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,894 shares of the company’s stock valued at $102,000 after buying an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in shares of United Community Banks by 27.6% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 747,576 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,541,000 after buying an additional 161,848 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arkadios Wealth Advisors bought a new position in shares of United Community Banks in the first quarter valued at $342,000. Institutional investors own 82.29% 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.