United Community Banks, Inc. (NASDAQ:UCB) Receives $34.57 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

United Community Banks, Inc. (NASDAQ:UCB) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seven research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $34.5714.

UCB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on United Community Banks from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of United Community Banks from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Hovde Group lifted their target price on United Community Banks from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of United Community Banks in a report on Tuesday, July 8th.

Insider Buying and Selling at United Community Banks

In other news, EVP Richard Bradshaw sold 1,616 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.94, for a total value of $49,999.04. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 78,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,425,541.30. This represents a 2.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of United Community Banks

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of United Community Banks by 27.5% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 11,127 shares of the company’s stock valued at $332,000 after purchasing an additional 2,401 shares during the period. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of United Community Banks in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $206,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new stake in shares of United Community Banks in the second quarter valued at $1,468,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in shares of United Community Banks by 1.1% in the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 149,434 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,451,000 after purchasing an additional 1,665 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Continental Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in United Community Banks in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $536,000. 82.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

United Community Banks Stock Performance

NASDAQ UCB opened at $31.80 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.86 billion, a PE ratio of 15.59 and a beta of 0.86. United Community Banks 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. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $31.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $29.41.

United Community Banks (NASDAQ:UCB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.05. United Community Banks had a return on equity of 8.64% and a net margin of 16.48%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that United Community Banks will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current year.

United Community Banks Increases Dividend

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

United Community Banks Company Profile

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.