Amundi Makes New $1.35 Million Investment in United Community Banks, Inc. $UCB

Amundi purchased a new position in shares of United Community Banks, Inc. (NASDAQ:UCB) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 47,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,347,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quarry LP purchased a new position in United Community Banks during the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. Versant Capital Management Inc purchased a new position in United Community Banks during the first quarter worth approximately $37,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in United Community Banks during the fourth quarter worth approximately $42,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB purchased a new position in United Community Banks during the first quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, CWM LLC purchased a new position in United Community Banks during the first quarter worth approximately $62,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on UCB shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of United Community Banks from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of United Community Banks in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of United Community Banks from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Hovde Group increased their price objective on shares of United Community Banks from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $34.57.

United Community Banks Price Performance

UCB opened at $32.34 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $31.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $29.40. The firm has a market cap of $3.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.85 and a beta of 0.86. United Community Banks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $22.93 and a twelve month high of $35.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

United Community Banks (NASDAQ:UCB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.05. United Community Banks had a net margin of 16.48% and a return on equity of 8.64%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that United Community Banks, Inc. will post 2.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

United Community Banks Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. This is an increase from United Community Banks’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. United Community Banks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other United Community Banks news, EVP Richard Bradshaw sold 1,616 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.94, for a total transaction of $49,999.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 78,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,425,541.30. This trade represents a 2.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About United Community Banks

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