Northern Trust Corp Decreases Holdings in United Community Banks, Inc. $UCB

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp reduced its stake in United Community Banks to approximately $38.68 million, holding about 1.15% of the company's shares after selling 33,954 shares in the first quarter.
• United Community Banks plans to increase its quarterly dividend from $0.24 to $0.25, resulting in a 3.0% annual yield, with the payment scheduled for October 3rd.
• Analysts have mixed ratings for United Community Banks, with a consensus target price of $34.57 and three analysts rating it as a Buy while four assigned a Hold rating.

Northern Trust Corp lowered its stake in shares of United Community Banks, Inc. (NASDAQ:UCB - Free Report) by 2.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,375,119 shares of the company's stock after selling 33,954 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned about 1.15% of United Community Banks worth $38,682,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cambiar Investors LLC purchased a new position in shares of United Community Banks during the first quarter worth about $1,838,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of United Community Banks by 11.9% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 300,514 shares of the company's stock worth $8,454,000 after buying an additional 31,999 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of United Community Banks by 1.5% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,151,914 shares of the company's stock worth $173,047,000 after buying an additional 92,952 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of United Community Banks by 4.9% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 101,973 shares of the company's stock worth $2,869,000 after buying an additional 4,757 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of United Community Banks during the first quarter worth about $1,728,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.29% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James Financial reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of United Community Banks in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on United Community Banks from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on United Community Banks from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Hovde Group lifted their price objective on United Community Banks from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, United Community Banks has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $34.57.

United Community Banks Stock Performance

UCB traded down $0.12 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $32.99. The company's stock had a trading volume of 385,222 shares, compared to its average volume of 706,467. United Community Banks, Inc. has a 52-week low of $22.93 and a 52-week high of $35.38. The company's fifty day moving average price is $31.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $29.38. The company has a market capitalization of $4.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.17 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78.

United Community Banks (NASDAQ:UCB - Get Free Report) last announced 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 business's revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that United Community Banks, Inc. will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United Community Banks Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is a positive change from United Community Banks's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. United Community Banks's dividend payout ratio is presently 45.45%.

Insider Activity at United Community Banks

In other news, EVP Richard Bradshaw sold 1,616 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.94, for a total transaction of $49,999.04. Following the sale, the executive vice president 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.43% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.