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

United Community Banks, Inc. (NYSE:UCB) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Four equities 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 1-year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $38.00.

UCB has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Stephens boosted their target price on United Community Banks from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of 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. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of United Community Banks in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of United Community Banks from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of United Community Banks from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th.

United Community Banks Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:UCB opened at $34.74 on Tuesday. United Community Banks has a one year low of $22.93 and a one year high of $36.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.31 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $32.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81.

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 net margin of 21.35% and a return on equity of 9.49%. The business’s revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.61 earnings per share.

United Community Banks declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback 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 generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Alan H. Kumler sold 12,043 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.36, for a total value of $425,840.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 21,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $745,954.56. This trade represents a 36.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of UCB. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of United Community Banks by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,514,731 shares of the company’s stock worth $453,150,000 after purchasing an additional 120,156 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted 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 valued at $198,681,000 after purchasing an additional 61,465 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in United Community Banks by 2.0% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,879,780 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,801,000 after buying an additional 56,756 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in United Community Banks by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,805,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,362,000 after buying an additional 124,347 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in United Community Banks during the fourth quarter worth about $48,450,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.29% of the company’s stock.

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.