Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Purchases Shares of 23,752 United Community Banks, Inc. $UCB

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in United Community Banks, Inc. (NYSE:UCB) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 23,752 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $742,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Savant Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of United Community Banks by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 28,317 shares of the company’s stock worth $888,000 after buying an additional 453 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in United Community Banks by 2.0% in the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 26,189 shares of the company’s stock valued at $840,000 after purchasing an additional 507 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in United Community Banks by 11.5% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,666 shares of the company’s stock valued at $177,000 after purchasing an additional 586 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp increased its position in shares of United Community Banks by 1.7% during the 3rd 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. Finally, IFG Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of United Community Banks by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. IFG Advisory LLC now owns 15,501 shares of the company’s stock worth $486,000 after purchasing an additional 646 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at United Community Banks

In other news, CAO Alan H. Kumler sold 12,043 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.36, for a total transaction of $425,840.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 21,096 shares in the company, valued at approximately $745,954.56. This represents a 36.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

United Community Banks Stock Performance

UCB opened at $31.97 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.88. United Community Banks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $22.93 and a 1 year high of $36.77. The company has a market capitalization of $3.82 billion, a PE ratio of 12.25 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 for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.73 by ($0.02). United Community Banks had a return on equity of 9.49% and a net margin of 21.35%.During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.61 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year.

United Community Banks declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Monday, December 8th that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 2.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

United Community Banks Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

UCB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Hovde Group downgraded shares of United Community Banks from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $38.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of United Community Banks from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of United Community Banks from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on United Community Banks from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered United Community Banks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.