USCB Financial (NASDAQ:USCB) Cut to “Hold” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research lowered shares of USCB Financial (NASDAQ:USCB) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Separately, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of USCB Financial in a report on Monday, December 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $22.00.

USCB Financial Stock Performance

Shares of USCB stock opened at $18.85 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $18.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $17.81. The stock has a market cap of $341.37 million, a PE ratio of 14.50 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. USCB Financial has a 12 month low of $15.39 and a 12 month high of $20.78.

USCB Financial (NASDAQ:USCB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.07). USCB Financial had a return on equity of 14.78% and a net margin of 16.36%.The business had revenue of $25.53 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.34 million. On average, equities analysts expect that USCB Financial will post 1.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

USCB Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 17th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. This is a positive change from USCB Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. USCB Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.77%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other USCB Financial news, CEO La Aguilera Luis De sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.02, for a total transaction of $180,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 245,893 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,430,991.86. This represents a 3.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director W Kirk Wycoff sold 82,043 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.56, for a total transaction of $1,522,718.08. Following the sale, the director owned 1,895,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,176,508.16. This represents a 4.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 189,623 shares of company stock worth $3,483,984. Corporate insiders own 49.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On USCB Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of USCB. Patriot Financial Partners GP II L.P. purchased a new position in shares of USCB Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,527,000. Endeavour Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in USCB Financial by 0.5% during the third quarter. Endeavour Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,247,211 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,764,000 after purchasing an additional 6,262 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in shares of USCB Financial by 9.0% in the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 973,088 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,095,000 after purchasing an additional 79,983 shares in the last quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp increased its stake in shares of USCB Financial by 3.1% in the second quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp now owns 691,048 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,430,000 after purchasing an additional 20,870 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of USCB Financial by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 248,716 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,114,000 after purchasing an additional 4,242 shares during the period. 61.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About USCB Financial

USCB Financial (NASDAQ: USCB) is a bank holding company headquartered in Columbia, South Carolina, serving as the parent company of United Security Bank. Established to support community banking in the Midlands region, the company focuses on relationship-driven financial services tailored to both individuals and businesses. As a regional player, USCB Financial emphasizes personalized service through a network of full-service branch offices.

The company’s core business activities include commercial and consumer lending, deposit products and alternative delivery channels.