United Community Banks, Inc. Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.25 (NYSE:UCB)

United Community Banks, Inc. (NYSE:UCB) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of 0.25 per share on Friday, July 3rd. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th.

United Community Banks has raised its dividend by an average of 0.1%annually over the last three years.

United Community Banks Trading Down 2.0%

NYSE UCB traded down $0.66 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $32.00. 215,741 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 880,689. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $32.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. United Community Banks has a 52 week low of $27.23 and a 52 week high of $36.77. The stock has a market cap of $3.83 billion, a PE ratio of 11.77 and a beta of 0.83.

United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.70. United Community Banks had a return on equity of 9.65% and a net margin of 22.05%.The company had revenue of $278.27 million for the quarter. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.58 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that United Community Banks will post 2.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Richard Bradshaw sold 1,510 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.09, for a total transaction of $49,965.90. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.45% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On United Community Banks

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in UCB. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in United Community Banks by 7.0% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 55,319 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,557,000 after acquiring an additional 3,617 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in United Community Banks by 176.2% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 26,530 shares of the company’s stock worth $746,000 after acquiring an additional 16,925 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in United Community Banks by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 71,211 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,003,000 after acquiring an additional 3,115 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new stake in United Community Banks during the 1st quarter worth about $219,000. Finally, United Services Automobile Association acquired a new stake in United Community Banks during the 1st quarter worth about $204,000. 82.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About United Community Banks

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.