United Community Banks’ (UCB) “Buy” Rating Reaffirmed at DA Davidson

DA Davidson reissued their buy rating on shares of United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) in a report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $40.00 price objective on the stock.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Hovde Group reduced their price target on United Community Banks from $38.00 to $37.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 27th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of United Community Banks from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of United Community Banks from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $36.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. TD Cowen raised shares of United Community Banks to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of United Community Banks from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, United Community Banks currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $38.80.

United Community Banks Price Performance

NYSE:UCB opened at $34.98 on Wednesday. United Community Banks has a one year low of $28.65 and a one year high of $37.18. The stock has a market cap of $4.19 billion, a PE ratio of 11.51 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.83. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $34.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.45.

United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $279.28 million for the quarter. United Community Banks had a return on equity of 9.61% and a net margin of 24.43%. Equities research analysts expect that United Community Banks will post 3.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

United Community Banks Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. United Community Banks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.89%.

Insider Activity at United Community Banks

In other news, EVP Richard Bradshaw sold 1,510 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.09, for a total value of $49,965.90. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 84,497 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,796,005.73. This represents a 1.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.45% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of United Community Banks

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in shares of United Community Banks by 7.0% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 55,319 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,557,000 after buying an additional 3,617 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in United Community Banks by 176.2% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 26,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $746,000 after acquiring an additional 16,925 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in United Community Banks by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 71,211 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,003,000 after acquiring an additional 3,115 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in United Community Banks during the first quarter worth about $219,000. Finally, United Services Automobile Association acquired a new stake in shares of United Community Banks during the first quarter worth about $204,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.29% of the company’s stock.

More United Community Banks News

Here are the key news stories impacting United Community Banks this week:

• Positive Sentiment: DA Davidson reaffirmed its Buy rating on United Community Banks and raised its price target to $40, implying about 14.4% upside from the current share price. Benzinga report
• Positive Sentiment: Company commentary and post-earnings coverage highlighted strong loan growth, sixth consecutive quarter of margin expansion, and continued focus on core banking operations, suggesting the underlying business trend remains constructive. GlobeNewswire release
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts and market commentary continue to debate whether UCB is undervalued after the earnings miss, with some articles arguing the stock still looks inexpensive relative to fair value. Yahoo Finance article
• Neutral Sentiment: Several earnings recaps emphasized that UCB reported $0.71 EPS versus the $0.80 consensus and revenue of $279.3 million, reinforcing the view that the quarter was solid operationally but short of expectations. MarketBeat earnings report
• Negative Sentiment: The main drag on the shares is the earnings miss, with both earnings and sales coming in below analyst estimates, which can weigh on bank stocks despite year-over-year improvement. Zacks article

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.