Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Sells 15,258 Shares of United Community Banks, Inc. (NASDAQ:UCB)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA reduced its stake in shares of United Community Banks, Inc. (NASDAQ:UCB - Free Report) by 0.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,857,060 shares of the company's stock after selling 15,258 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 1.55% of United Community Banks worth $52,239,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of UCB. Vanguard Group Inc. bought a new position in United Community Banks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $450,141,000. FMR LLC bought a new position in United Community Banks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $310,166,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP bought a new position in United Community Banks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $195,766,000. Capital Research Global Investors acquired a new stake in United Community Banks in the fourth quarter worth $148,763,000. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in United Community Banks in the fourth quarter worth $113,536,000. 82.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Hovde Group upgraded shares of United Community Banks from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $32.00 to $31.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th. Stephens reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $36.00 target price on shares of United Community Banks in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Raymond James Financial restated a "market perform" rating on shares of United Community Banks in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on shares of United Community Banks from $38.00 to $33.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of United Community Banks from $35.00 to $32.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $33.14.

United Community Banks Stock Down 0.1%

UCB stock traded down $0.02 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $31.70. The company's stock had a trading volume of 756,713 shares, compared to its average volume of 663,374. The company's fifty day moving average price is $29.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $29.64. United Community Banks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $22.93 and a twelve month high of $35.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.54 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

United Community Banks Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Stockholders of record on Sunday, June 15th were given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. United Community Banks's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.50%.

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.