United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) Upgraded to “Outperform” at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a $40.00 price objective on the stock, up from their previous price objective of $36.00. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price objective would suggest a potential upside of 19.50% from the company’s previous close.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. DA Davidson upped their price target 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. Hovde Group downgraded United Community Banks from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $38.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Zacks Research downgraded United Community Banks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Stephens increased their target price on United Community Banks from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded United Community Banks from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $39.00.

United Community Banks Stock Performance

United Community Banks stock opened at $33.47 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market capitalization of $4.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.83 and a beta of 0.82. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $32.74 and its 200 day moving average is $31.91. United Community Banks has a twelve month low of $22.93 and a twelve month high of $36.77.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

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 stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $745,954.56. This trade represents a 36.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.43% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On United Community Banks

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. AlphaQuest LLC raised its holdings in United Community Banks by 82.4% in the 3rd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 122,631 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,844,000 after purchasing an additional 55,402 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its holdings in United Community Banks by 14.4% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 473,855 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,855,000 after purchasing an additional 59,650 shares during the period. Wesbanco Bank Inc. bought a new position in United Community Banks in the 3rd quarter worth $1,831,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in United Community Banks by 1.0% in the 3rd 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 period. Finally, Azora Capital LP bought a new position in United Community Banks in the 3rd quarter worth $13,423,000. 82.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.