United Bankshares (NASDAQ:UBSI) Hits New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

United Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:UBSI) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday. The company traded as high as $50.36 and last traded at $49.1990, with a volume of 69,383 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $48.47.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Hovde Group lifted their price objective on United Bankshares from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of United Bankshares from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of United Bankshares from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research report on Monday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of United Bankshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of United Bankshares from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, United Bankshares presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.20.

United Bankshares Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $6.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.11 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $47.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $44.94.

United Bankshares (NASDAQ:UBSI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $325.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $327.23 million. United Bankshares had a net margin of 28.03% and a return on equity of 9.37%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.92 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that United Bankshares, Inc. will post 3.74 earnings per share for the current year.

United Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th were paid a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. United Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other United Bankshares news, Director Mark Nesselroad sold 3,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.42, for a total value of $148,544.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 32,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,495,838.08. This trade represents a 9.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 3.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On United Bankshares

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UBSI. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of United Bankshares during the second quarter worth approximately $925,212,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of United Bankshares by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,661,331 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $317,327,000 after acquiring an additional 56,808 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 277,836 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of United Bankshares by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,362,254 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,425,000 after purchasing an additional 10,646 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of United Bankshares by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 570,961 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $23,649,000 after purchasing an additional 39,712 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.80% of the company’s stock.

United Bankshares Company Profile

United Bankshares, Inc is a financial holding company that operates through its subsidiary, United Bank. The company provides a broad range of banking and financial services to individuals, businesses, nonprofit organizations and government entities.

United Bank’s offerings include checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, residential and commercial real estate lending, consumer loans, commercial and industrial financing, treasury management and online and mobile banking.