California State Teachers Retirement System Grows Stock Holdings in United Community Banks, Inc. $UCB

California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in shares of United Community Banks, Inc. (NYSE:UCB) by 20.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 138,227 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,142 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in United Community Banks were worth $4,353,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ruffer LLP purchased a new stake in shares of United Community Banks in the fourth quarter worth $3,053,000. Horizon Investments LLC purchased a new stake in United Community Banks in the 4th quarter worth $1,153,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in United Community Banks during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,941,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in shares of United Community Banks by 365.9% in the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 114,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,615,000 after acquiring an additional 90,234 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of United Community Banks by 8.6% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,316,251 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,449,000 after acquiring an additional 103,891 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.29% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Richard Bradshaw sold 1,424 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.09, for a total transaction of $49,968.16. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 83,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,920,470.52. This trade represents a 1.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Jefferson L. Harralson sold 25,000 shares of United Community Banks stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.41, for a total value of $885,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 37,433 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,325,502.53. This represents a 40.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.45% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UCB has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Hovde Group lowered their price target on United Community Banks from $38.00 to $37.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 27th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of United Community Banks from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 27th. TD Cowen raised shares of United Community Banks to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $37.00 target price on shares of United Community Banks in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Stephens raised their target price on shares of United Community Banks from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, United Community Banks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $38.80.

United Community Banks Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE UCB opened at $35.50 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The company has a market cap of $4.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.68 and a beta of 0.82. United Community Banks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $28.65 and a 1 year high of $37.18. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.67.

United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by ($0.09). United Community Banks had a return on equity of 9.61% and a net margin of 24.43%.The company had revenue of $279.28 million during the quarter. Research analysts anticipate that United Community Banks, Inc. will post 2.93 earnings per share for the current year.

United Community Banks Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. United Community Banks’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.89%.

United Community Banks 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.