Mutual of America Capital Management LLC Purchases New Position in United Community Banks, Inc. (NASDAQ:UCB)

Key Points

• Mutual of America Capital Management LLC has acquired a new position in United Community Banks, Inc. (NASDAQ:UCB), purchasing 17,382 shares valued at approximately $489,000 in the first quarter.
• Wall Street analysts have generally given United Community Banks a consensus rating of "Hold" with an average price target of $34.57.
• United Community Banks recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.24, which represents an annualized yield of 3.2%.

Mutual of America Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of United Community Banks, Inc. (NASDAQ:UCB - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 17,382 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $489,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in United Community Banks by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,336,816 shares of the company's stock worth $403,295,000 after acquiring an additional 404,866 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP purchased a new stake in shares of United Community Banks during the fourth quarter valued at about $195,766,000. Capital Research Global Investors purchased a new stake in shares of United Community Banks during the fourth quarter valued at about $148,763,000. Earnest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of United Community Banks during the fourth quarter valued at about $113,536,000. Finally, Snyder Capital Management L P purchased a new stake in shares of United Community Banks during the fourth quarter valued at about $61,663,000. 82.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at United Community Banks

In other United Community Banks news, EVP Richard Bradshaw sold 1,616 shares of United Community Banks stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.94, for a total value of $49,999.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 78,395 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,425,541.30. The trade was a 2.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.43% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $36.00 price objective on shares of United Community Banks in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of United Community Banks from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of United Community Banks in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Hovde Group increased their price objective on shares of United Community Banks from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of United Community Banks from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $34.57.

United Community Banks Price Performance

UCB stock traded down $0.37 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $31.19. The stock had a trading volume of 580,554 shares, compared to its average volume of 721,053. United Community Banks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $22.93 and a 52-week high of $35.38. 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 company's fifty day simple moving average is $30.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.46. The company has a market cap of $3.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.29 and a beta of 0.83.

United Community Banks (NASDAQ:UCB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company's revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that United Community Banks, Inc. will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United Community Banks Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This is an increase from United Community Banks's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. United Community Banks's payout ratio is presently 43.64%.

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.