Legal & General Group Plc Sells 15,853 Shares of United Community Banks, Inc. $UCB

Legal & General Group Plc reduced its position in United Community Banks, Inc. (NYSE:UCB) by 5.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 301,497 shares of the company’s stock after selling 15,853 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in United Community Banks were worth $9,421,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of United Community Banks by 48.9% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 5,756 shares of the company’s stock worth $180,000 after purchasing an additional 1,891 shares in the last quarter. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. bought a new position in shares of United Community Banks during the fourth quarter valued at $62,000. MQS Management LLC bought a new position in shares of United Community Banks during the fourth quarter valued at $357,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of United Community Banks by 1,242,300.0% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 12,424 shares of the company’s stock valued at $388,000 after buying an additional 12,423 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Algebris UK Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of United Community Banks during the fourth quarter valued at $9,294,000. 82.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

United Community Banks Price Performance

NYSE UCB opened at $33.24 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $32.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $32.65. United Community Banks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $27.23 and a 52 week high of $36.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.22 and a beta of 0.82.

United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70. The company had revenue of $278.27 million for the quarter. United Community Banks had a return on equity of 9.65% and a net margin of 22.05%.United Community Banks’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.58 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that United Community Banks, Inc. will post 2.99 earnings per share for the current year.

United Community Banks Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. United Community Banks’s payout ratio is presently 36.76%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Richard Bradshaw sold 1,510 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 27th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,796,005.73. This represents a 1.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.45% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UCB has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $39.00 target price on shares of United Community Banks in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Hovde Group reduced 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. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of United Community Banks from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of United Community Banks from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $36.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of United Community Banks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $38.40.

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.