United Bankshares (NASDAQ:UBSI) Stock Gets Downgrade from Wall Street Zen

United Bankshares (NASDAQ:UBSI) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on UBSI. Raymond James Financial upped their target price on shares of United Bankshares from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Hovde Group lifted their price target 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 boosted their price target on United Bankshares from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of United Bankshares in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.80.

United Bankshares Stock Performance

NASDAQ UBSI opened at $48.67 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $47.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $45.84. United Bankshares has a 1 year low of $34.68 and a 1 year high of $49.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.19 and a beta of 0.72.

United Bankshares (NASDAQ:UBSI) last announced 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. United Bankshares had a net margin of 28.03% and a return on equity of 9.37%. The company had revenue of $325.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $327.23 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.92 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that United Bankshares will post 3.73 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at United Bankshares

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

Institutional Trading of United Bankshares

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Root Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in United Bankshares by 64.4% in the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 786 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP bought a new position in United Bankshares in the 2nd quarter valued at about $43,000. Nykredit A S bought a new position in United Bankshares in the 2nd quarter valued at about $52,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its position in United Bankshares by 49.4% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,355 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 448 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in United Bankshares during the second quarter worth approximately $68,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.80% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting United Bankshares

Here are the key news stories impacting United Bankshares this week:

• Positive Sentiment: EPS beat expectations and improved year over year. UBSI reported diluted earnings of $0.94 per share, up from $0.92 a year earlier and ahead of the approximately $0.93 consensus estimate. Net income was $128.7 million. United Bankshares quarterly earnings report
• Positive Sentiment: Record net interest income and improving margins provide the strongest bullish catalyst. Net interest income reached $294.3 million, an $8.9 million sequential increase, while net interest margin expanded to 3.86% from 3.81% in the second quarter. These trends suggest improved core banking profitability. United Bankshares third-quarter earnings details
• Neutral Sentiment: Revenue was broadly in line but slightly below the consensus forecast. Quarterly revenue totaled $325.1 million versus analyst estimates of roughly $327.2 million. Zacks characterized the $0.94 EPS result as meeting its consensus estimate, indicating limited surprise overall. United Bankshares sales in line with estimates
• Negative Sentiment: Several profitability headwinds remain. Third-quarter net income declined from $130.7 million a year earlier and $131.4 million in the prior quarter. The provision for credit losses rose to $6.2 million from $5.0 million sequentially, noninterest income fell by $7.7 million, and noninterest expense increased by $2.0 million. These factors could limit further upside despite strong spread income. United Bankshares credit results

About United Bankshares

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.