United Community Banks (NASDAQ:UCBI) Lifted to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of United Community Banks (NASDAQ:UCBI) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Thursday morning.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. DA Davidson increased their target price on United Community Banks from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday. Piper Sandler cut their target price on United Community Banks from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on United Community Banks from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on United Community Banks from $26.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Thursday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $31.50.

United Community Banks Stock Up 1.1 %

United Community Banks stock opened at $31.51 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.46 and a beta of 0.91. United Community Banks has a fifty-two week low of $21.63 and a fifty-two week high of $31.96. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

United Community Banks (NASDAQ:UCBI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.07. United Community Banks had a return on equity of 8.04% and a net margin of 13.36%. The company had revenue of $347.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $238.95 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.55 EPS. United Community Banks’s quarterly revenue was up 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that United Community Banks will post 2.16 EPS for the current year.

United Community Banks Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 5th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, June 15th were given a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. United Community Banks’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.74%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On United Community Banks

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in UCBI. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of United Community Banks during the 4th quarter valued at $37,723,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new stake in United Community Banks in the 4th quarter worth about $20,850,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in United Community Banks by 13.9% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,553,813 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $133,249,000 after acquiring an additional 556,939 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in United Community Banks by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,552,982 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $396,560,000 after acquiring an additional 274,275 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in United Community Banks by 85.2% in the 4th quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 157,743 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,616,000 after acquiring an additional 72,582 shares during the last quarter. 82.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About United Community Banks

United Community Banks, Inc operates as the financial holding company for United Community Bank that provides financial products and services to commercial, retail, government, education, energy, health care, and real estate sectors. It accepts various deposit products, including checking, savings, money market, and other deposit accounts.