Atlantic Union Bankshares (NASDAQ:AUB) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Atlantic Union Bankshares (NASDAQ:AUB) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on AUB. Raymond James Financial set a $45.00 target price on shares of Atlantic Union Bankshares in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Stephens increased their price objective on Atlantic Union Bankshares from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Atlantic Union Bankshares from $41.50 to $47.50 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Atlantic Union Bankshares from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Atlantic Union Bankshares in a report on Thursday, December 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.55.

Atlantic Union Bankshares Stock Performance

Shares of AUB stock opened at $41.77 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $37.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.12. The company has a market capitalization of $5.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.24 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Atlantic Union Bankshares has a 1-year low of $22.85 and a 1-year high of $42.18.

Atlantic Union Bankshares (NASDAQ:AUB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The company reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $391.33 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $378.95 million. Atlantic Union Bankshares had a return on equity of 8.50% and a net margin of 15.53%.During the same period last year, the company posted $0.67 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Atlantic Union Bankshares will post 3.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atlantic Union Bankshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 13th will be given a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 13th. Atlantic Union Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 72.55%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Atlantic Union Bankshares

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Atlantic Union Bankshares by 24.5% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,400,456 shares of the company’s stock valued at $231,486,000 after acquiring an additional 1,457,647 shares in the last quarter. North Reef Capital Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Atlantic Union Bankshares by 35.0% during the 3rd quarter. North Reef Capital Management LP now owns 3,713,604 shares of the company’s stock worth $131,053,000 after purchasing an additional 963,604 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Atlantic Union Bankshares by 59.2% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,375,225 shares of the company’s stock valued at $105,589,000 after purchasing an additional 1,255,064 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Atlantic Union Bankshares by 96.8% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,313,002 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,631,000 after purchasing an additional 1,629,591 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Atlantic Union Bankshares by 7.8% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,393,318 shares of the company’s stock worth $84,460,000 after purchasing an additional 174,122 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.58% of the company’s stock.

About Atlantic Union Bankshares

Atlantic Union Bankshares, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, operating through its principal subsidiary Atlantic Union Bank. The company offers a full suite of commercial and consumer banking services to individuals, businesses and institutions across Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina and the District of Columbia. Leveraging a network of full-service branches, commercial lending offices and digital platforms, Atlantic Union Bankshares focuses on relationship-driven solutions tailored to its regional client base.

Atlantic Union’s product lineup includes traditional deposit accounts, such as checking, savings and money market accounts, along with certificates of deposit.