USCB Financial (NASDAQ:USCB) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of USCB Financial (NASDAQ:USCB) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a report released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Separately, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of USCB Financial in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $22.00.

USCB Financial Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of USCB Financial stock opened at $18.95 on Monday. USCB Financial has a 1 year low of $15.39 and a 1 year high of $20.78. The firm has a market cap of $346.03 million, a PE ratio of 14.58 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.37.

USCB Financial (NASDAQ:USCB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $25.53 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.34 million. USCB Financial had a return on equity of 14.86% and a net margin of 16.36%. Analysts expect that USCB Financial will post 1.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

USCB Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 5th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 17th were paid a $0.125 dividend. This is an increase from USCB Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 17th. USCB Financial’s payout ratio is currently 38.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Andres Collazo sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Saturday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.27, for a total value of $146,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 32,950 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $601,996.50. This represents a 19.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO La Aguilera Luis De sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.02, for a total transaction of $180,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 245,893 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,430,991.86. This represents a 3.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 49.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of USCB Financial

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in USCB. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in shares of USCB Financial by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 48,305 shares of the company’s stock worth $888,000 after buying an additional 5,148 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in USCB Financial by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,316,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,252,000 after acquiring an additional 71,728 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in USCB Financial by 60.1% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 638 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd grew its position in USCB Financial by 64.7% during the 4th quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 17,616 shares of the company’s stock worth $324,000 after acquiring an additional 6,922 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in USCB Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $276,000. 61.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

USCB Financial Company Profile

USCB Financial (NASDAQ: USCB) is a bank holding company headquartered in Columbia, South Carolina, serving as the parent company of United Security Bank. Established to support community banking in the Midlands region, the company focuses on relationship-driven financial services tailored to both individuals and businesses. As a regional player, USCB Financial emphasizes personalized service through a network of full-service branch offices.

The company’s core business activities include commercial and consumer lending, deposit products and alternative delivery channels.