Algebris UK Ltd. Acquires New Shares in United Community Banks, Inc. $UCB

Key Points

• Algebris UK Ltd. opened a new position in United Community Banks, buying 297,562 shares valued at about $9.29 million in the fourth quarter.
• United Community Banks reported Q1 earnings of $0.70 per share, matching analyst estimates, while revenue rose 11.6% year over year to $278.27 million.
• The bank declared a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share payable July 3, which annualizes to a 3.0% yield; analysts currently rate the stock Moderate Buy with an average target price of $38.40.

Algebris UK Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of United Community Banks, Inc. (NYSE:UCB - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 297,562 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,294,000. Algebris UK Ltd. owned 0.24% of United Community Banks at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in United Community Banks by 196.1% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 992 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 657 shares during the period. Torren Management LLC acquired a new position in United Community Banks during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. First Horizon Corp boosted its stake in United Community Banks by 51.7% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 1,315 shares of the company's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 448 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in United Community Banks by 130.9% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,951 shares of the company's stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 1,106 shares during the period. Finally, Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. acquired a new position in United Community Banks during the 4th quarter valued at about $62,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.29% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at United Community Banks

In other news, EVP Richard Bradshaw sold 1,510 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.09, for a total value of $49,965.90. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 84,497 shares in the company, valued at $2,796,005.73. This represents a 1.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.45% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

United Community Banks Trading Up 2.5%

Shares of NYSE:UCB opened at $33.29 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $32.33 and a 200-day moving average of $32.39. The firm has a market cap of $3.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.24 and a beta of 0.83. United Community Banks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $27.23 and a twelve month high of $36.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.70. The company had revenue of $278.27 million during the quarter. United Community Banks had a net margin of 22.05% and a return on equity of 9.65%. The company's revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.58 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that United Community Banks, Inc. will post 2.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United Community Banks Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. United Community Banks's dividend payout ratio is 36.76%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on UCB. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of United Community Banks from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of United Community Banks from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $36.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of United Community Banks from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on United Community Banks from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Hovde Group reduced their price target on United Community Banks from $38.00 to $37.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $38.40.

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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