United Community Banks, Inc. (NYSE:UCB) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

United Community Banks, Inc. (NYSE:UCB) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $38.00.

UCB has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of United Community Banks in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Hovde Group lowered shares of United Community Banks from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $38.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, February 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on United Community Banks from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on United Community Banks from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Zacks Research raised United Community Banks from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other United Community Banks news, CAO Alan H. Kumler sold 12,043 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.36, for a total transaction of $425,840.48. Following the transaction, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On United Community Banks

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in United Community Banks by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 9,955 shares of the company’s stock valued at $311,000 after buying an additional 298 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in United Community Banks by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 11,761 shares of the company’s stock worth $367,000 after acquiring an additional 365 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of United Community Banks by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,880 shares of the company’s stock valued at $123,000 after acquiring an additional 372 shares during the last quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN lifted its stake in shares of United Community Banks by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 8,266 shares of the company’s stock valued at $258,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares during the period. Finally, First Horizon Corp lifted its stake in shares of United Community Banks by 51.7% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 1,315 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 448 shares during the period. 82.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

United Community Banks Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:UCB opened at $34.58 on Tuesday. United Community Banks has a twelve month low of $22.93 and a twelve month high of $36.77. The firm has a market cap of $4.20 billion, a PE ratio of 13.25 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The business has a fifty day moving average of $33.41 and a 200-day moving average of $31.90.

United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 14th. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) 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%.The company had revenue of $278.39 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $273.80 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.61 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis.

United Community Banks declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Monday, December 8th that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 2.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

United Community Banks Company Profile

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.