Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Sells 77,306 Shares of United Community Banks, Inc. $UCB

Key Points

• Massachusetts Financial Services trimmed its stake in United Community Banks by 6.1%, selling 77,306 shares and leaving it with 1,195,316 shares (about 0.98% of the company) valued at roughly $37.3 million; institutional investors now own 82.29% of the stock.
• Wall Street sentiment is broadly positive with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $39, amid mixed analyst moves including upgrades to $39–$40 and some downgrades.
• Recent fundamentals show a Q4 EPS of $0.71 (missed by $0.02) with revenue up 11% year-over-year; the stock trades near $33.82 with a P/E of ~13 and pays a $1.00 annualized dividend (≈3.0% yield, 38.3% payout ratio).

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA decreased its position in United Community Banks, Inc. (NYSE:UCB - Free Report) by 6.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,195,316 shares of the company's stock after selling 77,306 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned approximately 0.98% of United Community Banks worth $37,318,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of UCB. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in shares of United Community Banks by 7.0% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 55,319 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,557,000 after purchasing 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 purchasing an additional 16,925 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in shares of United Community Banks by 4.6% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 71,211 shares of the company's stock worth $2,003,000 after purchasing an additional 3,115 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in shares of United Community Banks in the first quarter worth about $219,000. Finally, United Services Automobile Association bought a new position in shares of United Community Banks in the first quarter worth about $204,000. Institutional investors own 82.29% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on United Community Banks from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Zacks Research lowered United Community Banks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Hovde Group lowered shares of United Community Banks from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and set a $38.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of United Community Banks from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, 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 stock from $36.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, United Community Banks has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $39.00.

United Community Banks Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of UCB opened at $33.82 on Wednesday. United Community Banks, Inc. has a 12-month low of $23.77 and a 12-month high of $36.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.96 and a beta of 0.82. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $32.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.98.

United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 14th. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.73 by ($0.02). United Community Banks had a net margin of 21.35% and a return on equity of 9.49%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.61 EPS. United Community Banks's revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year.

United Community Banks Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. United Community Banks's payout ratio is currently 38.31%.

Insider Transactions at United Community Banks

In other United Community Banks news, CAO Alan H. Kumler sold 12,043 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.36, for a total value of $425,840.48. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 21,096 shares of the company's stock, valued at $745,954.56. The trade was a 36.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.45% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

United Community Banks Company 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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