97,641 Shares in United Community Banks, Inc. $UCB Bought by Ruffer LLP

Key Points

• Ruffer LLP opened a new stake in United Community Banks by purchasing 97,641 shares in Q4, valued at about $3.05 million and representing roughly 0.08% of the company.
• United reported Q1 revenue of $277.3M (a beat) with adjusted EPS of $0.70 in line with consensus, and management guided to a modest 3–5 bps NIM expansion for Q2 while announcing acquisition of Peach State Bancshares (~$100.8M) targeting ~40% cost savings.
• CAO Alan H. Kumler sold 12,043 shares (a 36% reduction in his holdings), while analysts remain mixed — the consensus is a "Moderate Buy" with a $39 price target — and the stock yields 3.0% ($0.25 quarterly dividend).

Ruffer LLP purchased a new position in United Community Banks, Inc. (NYSE:UCB - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 97,641 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,053,000. Ruffer LLP owned 0.08% of United Community Banks as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. First Horizon Corp increased its position in shares of United Community Banks by 51.7% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 1,315 shares of the company's stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 448 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC increased its position in shares of United Community Banks by 1.6% in the third quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 28,317 shares of the company's stock worth $888,000 after purchasing an additional 453 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of United Community Banks by 2.0% in the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 26,189 shares of the company's stock worth $840,000 after purchasing an additional 507 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of United Community Banks by 11.5% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,666 shares of the company's stock worth $177,000 after purchasing an additional 586 shares during the period. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp increased its position in shares of United Community Banks by 1.7% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 35,583 shares of the company's stock worth $1,116,000 after purchasing an additional 607 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.29% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting United Community Banks

Here are the key news stories impacting United Community Banks this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Revenue and margin beat — Q1 revenue of $277.3M came in ahead of expectations and management highlighted net interest margin gains, supporting the idea of healthier core income. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: NIM guidance and cost saves — Management signaled a modest 3–5 bps NIM expansion for Q2 and said the Peach State deal targets ~40% cost savings, both of which support near-term margin improvement and EPS accretion. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Acquisition announced — United agreed to buy Peach State Bancshares in a stock + cash transaction (≈$100.8M), which expands footprint and offers targeted cost synergies; investors often view tidy, bolt-on deals positively when they’re accretive. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: EPS in line — Reported adjusted EPS of $0.70 matched the Street consensus (and was up YoY from $0.58), so the quarter was solid but not a surprise that would drive a major re-rating. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Conference materials and call available — Management provided a slide deck and earnings call transcript with additional color on credit trends and capital — useful for confirming whether margin guidance and asset quality trends are sustainable. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Deal and growth criticisms — Analysts note the Peach State acquisition is small relative to United’s franchise and unlikely to materially change the investment thesis; some argue valuation (forward P/E ~11.5; P/TBV ~1.48x cited) is slightly above peers and not fully supported by expected growth. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Minor estimate misses and mixed analyst notes — Some outlets (Zacks) flagged a small EPS/revenue miss versus their consensus, which can temper enthusiasm despite overall solid metrics. Article Title

Insider Activity at United Community Banks

In other news, CAO Alan H. Kumler sold 12,043 shares of United Community Banks stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $745,954.56. This trade represents a 36.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.45% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Zacks Research cut United Community Banks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Weiss Ratings upgraded United Community Banks from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. DA Davidson raised their price target on United Community Banks from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Hovde Group lowered United Community Banks from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and set a $38.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised United Community Banks from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $36.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $39.00.

United Community Banks Stock Performance

NYSE:UCB opened at $33.15 on Wednesday. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $32.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.97 billion, a PE ratio of 12.70 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. United Community Banks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $24.67 and a twelve month high of $36.77.

United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.70. The business had revenue of $277.30 million for the quarter. United Community Banks had a return on equity of 9.49% and a net margin of 21.35%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.58 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that United Community Banks, Inc. will post 3.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

United Community Banks Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. United Community Banks's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.31%.

United Community Banks 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.

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