SG Americas Securities LLC Increases Stock Holdings in United Community Banks, Inc. $UCB

SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in United Community Banks, Inc. (NYSE:UCB) by 163.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 56,243 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 34,932 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in United Community Banks were worth $1,756,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AlphaQuest LLC grew its position in shares of United Community Banks by 82.4% during the 3rd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 122,631 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,844,000 after purchasing an additional 55,402 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its holdings in shares of United Community Banks by 14.4% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 473,855 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,855,000 after purchasing an additional 59,650 shares during the period. Wesbanco Bank Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of United Community Banks in the third quarter worth $1,831,000. Azora Capital LP bought a new stake in United Community Banks during the third quarter valued at $13,423,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in United Community Banks by 1.0% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,337,524 shares of the company’s stock valued at $198,681,000 after buying an additional 61,465 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UCB has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded United Community Banks from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Stephens lifted their price target on United Community Banks from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Hovde Group lowered United Community Banks from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $38.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, February 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of 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. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of United Community Banks from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Three investment 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 a consensus price target of $38.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

United Community Banks Trading Down 0.0%

NYSE UCB opened at $32.08 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $32.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $31.89. United Community Banks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $22.93 and a twelve month high of $36.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market capitalization of $3.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.29 and a beta of 0.82.

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

United Community Banks Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. United Community Banks’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.31%.

United Community Banks declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, December 8th that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 2.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

United Community Banks Company Profile

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.