JPMorgan Chase & Co. Decreases Position in United Community Banks, Inc. $UCB

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered its position in United Community Banks, Inc. (NYSE:UCB) by 3.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 447,101 shares of the company’s stock after selling 18,062 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 0.37% of United Community Banks worth $14,017,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in UCB. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in United Community Banks during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. First Horizon Corp acquired a new position in United Community Banks during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of United Community Banks by 213.8% in the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,048 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 714 shares in the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new stake in shares of United Community Banks in the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in United Community Banks by 130.9% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,951 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 1,106 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other United Community Banks news, CAO Alan H. Kumler sold 12,043 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $745,954.56. This represents a 36.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

United Community Banks Price Performance

Shares of UCB opened at $32.56 on Thursday. United Community Banks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $22.93 and a fifty-two week high of $36.77. 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 company has a market capitalization of $3.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.48 and a beta of 0.84. The business’s 50-day moving average is $33.72 and its 200-day moving average is $32.16.

United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 14th. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.61 EPS.

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

United Community Banks Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. United Community Banks’s payout ratio is 38.31%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UCB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Stephens increased their price target on shares of United Community Banks from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. DA Davidson upped 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 note on Thursday, January 15th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of United Community Banks from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday. Zacks Research raised shares of United Community Banks from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on United Community Banks from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $38.00.

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.