American Century Companies Inc. Cuts Stake in United Community Banks, Inc. $UCB

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. reduced its stake in United Community Banks by 28.6%, selling 52,671 shares and holding 131,525 shares valued at approximately $3.7 million.
• United Community Banks recently announced a dividend increase to $0.25 per share, reflecting a 3.0% yield and an annual payout ratio of 45.45%.
• Wall Street analysts have a mixed outlook on United Community Banks, with price targets ranging from $32.00 to $36.00, and an average rating of "Hold."

American Century Companies Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of United Community Banks, Inc. (NASDAQ:UCB - Free Report) by 28.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 131,525 shares of the company's stock after selling 52,671 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.11% of United Community Banks worth $3,700,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in United Community Banks by 2.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,336,816 shares of the company's stock valued at $403,295,000 after purchasing an additional 404,866 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of United Community Banks by 1.5% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,151,914 shares of the company's stock worth $173,047,000 after purchasing an additional 92,952 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of United Community Banks by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,513,333 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,570,000 after purchasing an additional 59,902 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of United Community Banks during the 1st quarter valued at $40,871,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp bought a new position in United Community Banks in the 4th quarter worth $45,527,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.29% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on UCB. Hovde Group boosted their price objective on United Community Banks from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on United Community Banks from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of United Community Banks from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of United Community Banks in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $34.57.

Insider Transactions at United Community Banks

In other news, EVP Richard Bradshaw sold 1,616 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.94, for a total transaction of $49,999.04. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 78,395 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,425,541.30. This represents a 2.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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.

United Community Banks Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:UCB traded down $0.30 on Tuesday, reaching $33.10. The company had a trading volume of 474,669 shares, compared to its average volume of 708,402. 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 capitalization of $4.02 billion, a PE ratio of 16.23 and a beta of 0.86. United Community Banks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $22.93 and a 52-week high of $35.38. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $31.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.35.

United Community Banks (NASDAQ:UCB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.05. United Community Banks had a return on equity of 8.64% and a net margin of 16.48%.The firm's revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that United Community Banks, Inc. will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United Community Banks Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. This is a positive change from United Community Banks's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. United Community Banks's payout ratio is 45.45%.

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.