United Community Banks, Inc. $UCB Shares Sold by Peregrine Capital Management LLC

Peregrine Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of United Community Banks, Inc. (NYSE:UCB) by 8.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 167,984 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,167 shares during the quarter. Peregrine Capital Management LLC’s holdings in United Community Banks were worth $5,290,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ruffer LLP acquired a new stake in United Community Banks in the fourth quarter worth about $3,053,000. Azora Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of United Community Banks during the third quarter valued at about $13,423,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of United Community Banks by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,337,524 shares of the company’s stock valued at $198,681,000 after purchasing an additional 61,465 shares during the last quarter. Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC purchased a new position in shares of United Community Banks in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $5,627,000. Finally, Horizon Investments LLC acquired a new stake in United Community Banks in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,153,000. 82.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at United Community Banks

In related news, EVP Richard Bradshaw sold 1,510 shares of United Community Banks stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.09, for a total value of $49,965.90. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 84,497 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,796,005.73. The trade was a 1.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.45% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Hovde Group cut their price target on shares of United Community Banks from $38.00 to $37.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 27th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of United Community Banks from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 15th. Weiss Ratings raised United Community Banks from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen lowered United Community Banks from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 27th. Finally, Stephens lifted their price target on United Community Banks from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $38.40.

United Community Banks Stock Performance

UCB opened at $36.04 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $33.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.08. United Community Banks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $28.65 and a 1 year high of $36.77. The stock has a market cap of $4.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.25 and a beta of 0.81.

United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.70. The business had revenue of $278.26 million for the quarter. United Community Banks had a net margin of 22.05% and a return on equity of 9.65%. The company’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.58 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that United Community Banks, Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current year.

United Community Banks Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. United Community Banks’s payout ratio is currently 36.76%.

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.