JPMorgan Chase & Co. Trims Stock Holdings in United Community Banks, Inc. $UCB

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered its position in shares of United Community Banks, Inc. (NYSE:UCB) by 3.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 447,101 shares of the company’s stock after selling 18,062 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 0.37% of United Community Banks worth $14,017,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of United Community Banks by 1.0% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,337,524 shares of the company’s stock worth $198,681,000 after purchasing an additional 61,465 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in United Community Banks by 4.6% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,680,961 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,698,000 after buying an additional 73,775 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in United Community Banks in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,061,000. Systematic Financial Management LP increased its holdings in United Community Banks by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 899,810 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,805,000 after buying an additional 8,830 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in United Community Banks by 125.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 774,660 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,286,000 after buying an additional 431,491 shares during the last quarter. 82.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of United Community Banks from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Zacks Research cut shares of United Community Banks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of United Community Banks from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Hovde Group lowered shares of United Community Banks from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $38.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Stephens increased their price target on United Community Banks from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $38.00.

United Community Banks Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UCB opened at $31.31 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.00 and a beta of 0.84. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $33.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.92. United Community Banks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $22.93 and a 12 month high of $36.77.

United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) last posted its 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 net margin of 21.35% and a return on equity of 9.49%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.61 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year.

United Community Banks Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. United Community Banks’s dividend payout ratio is 38.31%.

United Community Banks declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Monday, December 8th that allows the company to buyback $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 2.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at United Community Banks

In other news, CAO Alan H. Kumler sold 12,043 shares of the 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 sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 21,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $745,954.56. This represents a 36.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

United Community Banks 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.