United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) Downgraded by Zacks Research to “Hold”

Zacks Research downgraded shares of United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on UCB. Hovde Group downgraded United Community Banks from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $38.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Stephens raised their target price on shares of United Community Banks from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of United Community Banks from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of United Community Banks from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of United Community Banks from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.00.

United Community Banks Trading Down 0.8%

United Community Banks stock opened at $29.72 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market cap of $3.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.39 and a beta of 0.84. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.02. United Community Banks has a 52-week low of $22.93 and a 52-week high of $36.77.

United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 14th. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.73 by ($0.02). United Community Banks had a net margin of 21.35% and a return on equity of 9.49%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.61 EPS. United Community Banks’s revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis.

United Community Banks announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Monday, December 8th that allows the company to buyback $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

United Community Banks Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. United Community Banks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other United Community Banks news, CAO Alan H. Kumler sold 12,043 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.36, for a total value of $425,840.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 21,096 shares in the company, valued at $745,954.56. This represents a 36.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On United Community Banks

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. AlphaQuest LLC increased its holdings in shares of United Community Banks by 82.4% in the third quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 122,631 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,844,000 after purchasing an additional 55,402 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its position in shares of United Community Banks by 14.4% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 473,855 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,855,000 after buying an additional 59,650 shares in the last quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. bought a new position in United Community Banks during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,831,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in United Community Banks by 1.0% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,337,524 shares of the company’s stock valued at $198,681,000 after buying an additional 61,465 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new position in United Community Banks during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,468,000. Institutional investors own 82.29% of the company’s stock.

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.