United Community Banks, Inc. $UCB Stake Boosted by Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its holdings in United Community Banks, Inc. (NYSE:UCB) by 9.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 31,194 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,629 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in United Community Banks were worth $929,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UCB. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of United Community Banks in the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in United Community Banks by 213.8% during the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,048 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 714 shares during the period. CWM LLC acquired a new stake in United Community Banks during the first quarter worth about $62,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in United Community Banks in the first quarter worth about $67,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in United Community Banks by 13,585.0% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,737 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,000 after acquiring an additional 2,717 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Richard Bradshaw sold 1,654 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.23, for a total value of $50,000.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 75,226 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,274,081.98. This represents a 2.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

United Community Banks Trading Up 2.7%

NYSE UCB opened at $30.55 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $30.63. United Community Banks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $22.93 and a 52 week high of $35.38. The company has a market cap of $3.71 billion, a PE ratio of 12.12 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $276.85 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $270.85 million. United Community Banks had a return on equity of 9.42% and a net margin of 20.67%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.57 earnings per share.

United Community Banks Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. United Community Banks’s payout ratio is 39.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of United Community Banks in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on United Community Banks from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $35.33.

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