Horizon Investments LLC Invests $1.15 Million in United Community Banks, Inc. $UCB

Key Points

• Horizon Investments LLC bought a new stake of 36,925 shares in United Community Banks in Q4, valued at roughly $1,153,000.
• UCB reported Q earnings of $0.70 per share (meeting estimates) with revenue of $276.51M, up 11.6% YoY, and analysts hold a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $38.40.
• United Community Banks pays a quarterly dividend of $0.25 (annualized $1.00, ~2.9% yield) and has high institutional ownership at 82.29%.

Horizon Investments LLC purchased a new stake in United Community Banks, Inc. (NYSE:UCB - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 36,925 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,153,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UCB. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in United Community Banks by 7.0% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 55,319 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,557,000 after buying an additional 3,617 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of United Community Banks by 176.2% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 26,530 shares of the company's stock worth $746,000 after acquiring an additional 16,925 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of United Community Banks by 4.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 71,211 shares of the company's stock worth $2,003,000 after acquiring an additional 3,115 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new stake in United Community Banks during the first quarter valued at $219,000. Finally, United Services Automobile Association acquired a new position in United Community Banks in the 1st quarter worth about $204,000. 82.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on UCB shares. Hovde Group dropped their price target on shares of United Community Banks from $38.00 to $37.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 27th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $39.00 price target on shares of United Community Banks in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on United Community Banks from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of United Community Banks from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their target price for the company from $36.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded United Community Banks from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $38.40.

United Community Banks Price Performance

Shares of UCB stock opened at $33.95 on Thursday. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $32.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.19. United Community Banks, Inc. has a one year low of $27.23 and a one year high of $36.77. The firm has a market cap of $4.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.48 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.70. United Community Banks had a return on equity of 9.65% and a net margin of 22.05%.The company had revenue of $276.51 million during the quarter. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.58 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that United Community Banks, Inc. will post 2.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United Community Banks Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. United Community Banks's dividend payout ratio is 36.76%.

Insider Buying and Selling at United Community Banks

In related news, EVP Richard Bradshaw sold 1,510 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.09, for a total transaction of $49,965.90. Following the transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.45% of the company's stock.

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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