Lazard Asset Management LLC Sells 29,794 Shares of Atlantic Union Bankshares Co. $AUB

Key Points

• Lazard Asset Management reduced its Atlantic Union Bankshares position by 21.8%, selling 29,794 shares in the first quarter and retaining 106,922 shares worth approximately $3.82 million. Institutional investors collectively own 78.58% of the stock.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with five Buy ratings and four Holds producing a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $44.12. TD Cowen raised its target to $48, while Piper Sandler and Stephens maintained Overweight ratings.
• Atlantic Union Bankshares beat quarterly EPS expectations, reporting $0.94 versus the $0.92 consensus, while revenue rose 3.1% year over year to $387.57 million. The company declared a $0.37 quarterly dividend, equivalent to a 3.5% annualized yield.

Lazard Asset Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Atlantic Union Bankshares Co. (NYSE:AUB - Free Report) by 21.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 106,922 shares of the company's stock after selling 29,794 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned 0.07% of Atlantic Union Bankshares worth $3,821,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. IFP Advisors Inc raised its holdings in shares of Atlantic Union Bankshares by 362.5% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 740 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 580 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC acquired a new position in Atlantic Union Bankshares during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Atlantic Union Bankshares by 504.7% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,542 shares of the company's stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 1,287 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Atlantic Union Bankshares by 138.9% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,064 shares of the company's stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Atlantic Union Bankshares in the third quarter valued at $77,000. 78.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on AUB. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Atlantic Union Bankshares from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings assumed coverage on shares of Atlantic Union Bankshares in a research note on Monday, July 6th. They set a "buy (b-)" rating for the company. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $47.00 price objective on shares of Atlantic Union Bankshares in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $46.00 price objective on shares of Atlantic Union Bankshares in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Atlantic Union Bankshares from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $44.12.

Atlantic Union Bankshares Price Performance

NYSE:AUB opened at $42.39 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.07 billion, a PE ratio of 12.65 and a beta of 0.79. Atlantic Union Bankshares Co. has a 1-year low of $30.39 and a 1-year high of $43.62. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.67. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Atlantic Union Bankshares (NYSE:AUB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $387.57 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $389.06 million. Atlantic Union Bankshares had a net margin of 21.97% and a return on equity of 10.55%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.95 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Atlantic Union Bankshares Co. will post 3.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Atlantic Union Bankshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 7th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Atlantic Union Bankshares's payout ratio is currently 44.18%.

Atlantic Union Bankshares Profile

Atlantic Union Bankshares, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, operating through its principal subsidiary Atlantic Union Bank. The company offers a full suite of commercial and consumer banking services to individuals, businesses and institutions across Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina and the District of Columbia. Leveraging a network of full-service branches, commercial lending offices and digital platforms, Atlantic Union Bankshares focuses on relationship-driven solutions tailored to its regional client base.

Atlantic Union’s product lineup includes traditional deposit accounts, such as checking, savings and money market accounts, along with certificates of deposit.

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