United Community Banks (NASDAQ:UCB) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

United Community Banks, Inc. (NASDAQ:UCB)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Thursday after Hovde Group lowered their price target on the stock from $36.00 to $32.00. The stock had previously closed at $28.93, but opened at $27.67. Hovde Group currently has a market perform rating on the stock. United Community Banks shares last traded at $28.70, with a volume of 18,358 shares traded.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of United Community Banks from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James upgraded shares of United Community Banks from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $35.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th.

Insider Activity

In other United Community Banks news, Director Sally Pope Davis purchased 1,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $28.19 per share, with a total value of $50,742.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,264 shares in the company, valued at approximately $92,012.16. This trade represents a 122.95 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO H Lynn Harton sold 31,679 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.84, for a total transaction of $1,072,017.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 112,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,805,104.96. This trade represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of United Community Banks

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of UCB. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in United Community Banks during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in United Community Banks during the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC bought a new stake in United Community Banks during the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC bought a new stake in United Community Banks during the 4th quarter worth approximately $59,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC bought a new stake in United Community Banks during the 4th quarter worth approximately $80,000. Institutional investors own 82.29% of the company’s stock.

United Community Banks Stock Down 0.6 %

The stock’s fifty day moving average is $31.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The firm has a market cap of $3.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.70 and a beta of 0.90.

United Community Banks Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. United Community Banks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.06%.

United Community Banks Company Profile

United Community Banks, Inc operates as the financial holding company for United Community Bank that provides financial products and services to commercial, retail, government, education, energy, health care, and real estate sectors. It accepts various deposit products, including checking, savings, money market, and other deposit accounts.