Brokerages Set United Community Banks, Inc. (NYSE:UCB) PT at $38.40

United Community Banks, Inc. (NYSE:UCB) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $38.40.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on UCB. Stephens boosted their price target on United Community Banks from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded United Community Banks from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $36.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on United Community Banks from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 15th. TD Cowen upgraded United Community Banks to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Hovde Group cut their price target on United Community Banks from $38.00 to $37.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 27th.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Richard Bradshaw sold 1,510 shares of United Community Banks stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.09, for a total transaction of $49,965.90. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 84,497 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,796,005.73. The trade was a 1.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.45% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On United Community Banks

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of United Community Banks in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $48,450,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of United Community Banks during the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,183,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in 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 position in United Community Banks by 125.7% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 774,660 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,286,000 after purchasing an additional 431,491 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its position in United Community Banks by 105.9% during the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 766,552 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,031,000 after purchasing an additional 394,263 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.29% of the company’s stock.

United Community Banks Stock Performance

NYSE UCB opened at $36.41 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.39 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $33.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.36. United Community Banks has a 1 year low of $28.65 and a 1 year high of $37.18.

United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70. The company had revenue of $278.26 million during the quarter. United Community Banks had a net margin of 22.05% and a return on equity of 9.65%. The business’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.58 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that United Community Banks will post 3.02 EPS for the current year.

United Community Banks Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. United Community Banks’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.76%.

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.