Citigroup Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in United Community Banks, Inc. $UCB

Citigroup Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of United Community Banks, Inc. (NYSE:UCB) by 39.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 114,443 shares of the company’s stock after selling 73,990 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc. owned 0.09% of United Community Banks worth $3,588,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Synovus Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of United Community Banks by 1.7% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 35,583 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,116,000 after purchasing an additional 607 shares during the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its stake in United Community Banks by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 67,979 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,131,000 after buying an additional 2,124 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in United Community Banks by 30.9% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 20,219 shares of the company’s stock valued at $634,000 after buying an additional 4,772 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its position in United Community Banks by 14.4% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 473,855 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,855,000 after buying an additional 59,650 shares during the period. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its position in United Community Banks by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 65,243 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,045,000 after buying an additional 1,848 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at United Community Banks

In other news, CAO Alan H. Kumler sold 12,043 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.36, for a total value of $425,840.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 21,096 shares in the company, valued at $745,954.56. The trade was a 36.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.43% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

United Community Banks Price Performance

Shares of UCB opened at $32.07 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $33.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $32.16. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $22.93 and a twelve month high of $36.77. The company has a market cap of $3.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.29 and a beta of 0.84.

United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 14th. The company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.73 by ($0.02). United Community Banks had a net margin of 21.35% and a return on equity of 9.49%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.61 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis.

United Community Banks declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Monday, December 8th that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

United Community Banks Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. United Community Banks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on UCB. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of United Community Banks from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Weiss Ratings raised United Community Banks from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Hovde Group downgraded United Community Banks from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $38.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, February 9th. Zacks Research upgraded United Community Banks from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Stephens increased their price target 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, United Community Banks has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $38.00.

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.