Insider Selling: United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) CAO Sells $425,840.48 in Stock

United Community Banks, Inc. (NYSE:UCB) CAO Alan Kumler sold 12,043 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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. The trade was a 36.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

United Community Banks Stock Performance

Shares of UCB opened at $33.89 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $4.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.98 and a beta of 0.83. The company’s fifty day moving average is $32.00 and its 200-day moving average is $31.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. United Community Banks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $22.93 and a 12 month high of $35.72.

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

United Community Banks Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 5th. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. United Community Banks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.31%.

United Community Banks announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Monday, December 8th that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 2.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of United Community Banks

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UCB. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its stake in United Community Banks by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 67,426 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,104,000 after purchasing an additional 1,227 shares during the period. Daytona Street Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of United Community Banks in the 4th quarter worth approximately $461,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of United Community Banks by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 49,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,555,000 after buying an additional 2,889 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of United Community Banks during the 4th quarter worth approximately $100,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in United Community Banks by 163.9% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 56,243 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,756,000 after buying an additional 34,932 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on UCB shares. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on United Community Banks from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Zacks Research raised shares of United Community Banks from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of United Community Banks in a report on Wednesday. Stephens upped their price objective on shares of United Community Banks from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on United Community Banks from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, United Community Banks currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.50.

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.