Insider Selling: United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) EVP Sells $885,250.00 in Stock

United Community Banks, Inc. (NYSE:UCB) EVP Jefferson Harralson sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.41, for a total transaction of $885,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 37,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,325,502.53. This trade represents a 40.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

United Community Banks Stock Performance

UCB traded up $0.48 on Tuesday, hitting $35.66. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 782,244 shares, compared to its average volume of 924,182. United Community Banks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $28.65 and a 12 month high of $37.18. The firm has a market cap of $4.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.73 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $34.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.52.

United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $279.28 million for the quarter. United Community Banks had a net margin of 24.43% and a return on equity of 9.61%. Analysts forecast that United Community Banks, Inc. will post 2.93 EPS for the current year.

United Community Banks Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. United Community Banks’s payout ratio is presently 32.89%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $37.00 target price on shares of United Community Banks in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. TD Cowen upgraded United Community Banks to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of United Community Banks from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $36.00 to $40.00 in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of United Community Banks from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Hovde Group reduced their price objective on shares of United Community Banks from $38.00 to $37.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $38.80.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On United Community Banks

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UCB. Ruffer LLP bought a new stake in shares of United Community Banks during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,053,000. Horizon Investments LLC bought a new stake in United Community Banks during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,153,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in United Community Banks during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,941,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew 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 worth $1,756,000 after buying an additional 34,932 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in United Community Banks in the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,450,000. 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.