United Community Banks, Inc. (NYSE:UCB) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

United Community Banks, Inc. (NYSE:UCB) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the seven brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $38.00.

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of United Community Banks from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of United Community Banks in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on United Community Banks from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Hovde Group cut United Community Banks from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $38.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Stephens raised their price objective on United Community Banks from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Alan H. Kumler sold 12,043 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.36, for a total value of $425,840.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 21,096 shares in the company, valued at approximately $745,954.56. This represents a 36.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On United Community Banks

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in UCB. Norges Bank acquired a new position in United Community Banks in the fourth quarter valued at about $48,450,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of United Community Banks by 70.6% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,380,627 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,103,000 after acquiring an additional 571,296 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of United Community Banks by 125.7% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 774,660 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,286,000 after acquiring an additional 431,491 shares during the last quarter. Azora Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of United Community Banks in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $13,423,000. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its position in United Community Banks by 105.9% during the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 766,552 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,031,000 after acquiring an additional 394,263 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.29% of the company’s stock.

United Community Banks Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:UCB opened at $34.58 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $33.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.90. United Community Banks has a twelve month low of $22.93 and a twelve month high of $36.77. The company has a market cap of $4.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.25 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 14th. The company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $278.39 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $273.80 million. United Community Banks had a return on equity of 9.49% and a net margin of 21.35%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.61 earnings per share.

United Community Banks declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Monday, December 8th that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 2.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

About United Community Banks

United Community Banks, Inc (NYSE: UCB) is a bank holding company headquartered in Blairsville, Georgia. It operates primarily through its subsidiary, United Community Bank, providing a broad range of banking and financial services to individual, business and governmental customers. The company’s core offerings include deposit accounts, commercial and consumer lending, mortgage origination, treasury and cash management services, and wealth management.

In addition to traditional banking products such as checking, savings and money market accounts, United Community Bank specializes in commercial real estate financing, small business administration (SBA) loans, equipment financing and agricultural lending.