StockNews.com Lowers United Community Banks (NASDAQ:UCBI) to Sell

United Community Banks (NASDAQ:UCBI – Get Rating) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report issued on Monday.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on UCBI. Zacks Investment Research cut shares of United Community Banks from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 27th. Raymond James cut shares of United Community Banks from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 6th.

Shares of United Community Banks stock traded up $0.71 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $30.57. 484,623 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 745,283. The company has a current ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a 50 day moving average of $32.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $34.88. The stock has a market cap of $3.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.85 and a beta of 1.07. United Community Banks has a fifty-two week low of $27.62 and a fifty-two week high of $39.32.

United Community Banks (NASDAQ:UCBI – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 19th. The financial services provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $202.77 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $202.89 million. United Community Banks had a net margin of 32.10% and a return on equity of 11.93%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.83 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that United Community Banks will post 2.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

In other United Community Banks news, CEO H Lynn Harton sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.11, for a total value of $175,550.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 242,222 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,504,414.42. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UCBI. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in shares of United Community Banks by 19.1% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 15,623,173 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $543,687,000 after purchasing an additional 2,505,834 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of United Community Banks by 9.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,753,740 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $409,029,000 after purchasing an additional 1,034,191 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of United Community Banks by 34.7% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,258,337 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $218,903,000 after purchasing an additional 1,611,842 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of United Community Banks by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,137,725 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $109,197,000 after purchasing an additional 133,074 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of United Community Banks by 13.6% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,777,724 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $99,831,000 after purchasing an additional 333,009 shares in the last quarter. 79.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

United Community Banks Company Profile (Get Rating)

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. The company accepts various deposit products, including checking, savings, money market, and other deposit accounts.

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