Northern Trust Corp Trims Stock Position 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 reduced its stake in United Community Banks, Inc. (NASDAQ:UCB - Free Report) by 2.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,375,119 shares of the company's stock after selling 33,954 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned 1.15% of United Community Banks worth $38,682,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in United Community Banks by 2.9% in 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 boosted its stake 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 valued at $173,047,000 after purchasing an additional 92,952 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of United Community Banks by 4.1% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,513,333 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,570,000 after purchasing an additional 59,902 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of United Community Banks during the first quarter valued at approximately $40,871,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of United Community Banks during the first quarter valued at approximately $34,780,000. 82.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

UCB has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. 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 note on Thursday, July 24th. 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 note on Thursday, July 24th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of United Community Banks in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, 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 note on Monday, July 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $34.57.

Insider Activity

In other United Community Banks news, EVP Richard Bradshaw sold 1,616 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The shares were 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 owned 78,395 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,425,541.30. This trade represents a 2.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.43% of the company's stock.

United Community Banks Stock Down 0.3%

UCB traded down $0.09 during trading on Friday, hitting $33.41. The stock had a trading volume of 663,714 shares, compared to its average volume of 709,819. The company has a market capitalization of $4.06 billion, a PE ratio of 16.38 and a beta of 0.83. United Community Banks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $22.93 and a twelve month high of $35.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.33.

United Community Banks (NASDAQ:UCB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.05. United Community Banks had a net margin of 16.48% and a return on equity of 8.64%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that United Community Banks, Inc. will post 2.52 earnings per share for the current year.

United Community Banks Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 3rd. Shareholders 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. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. United Community Banks's dividend payout ratio is 45.45%.

About United Community Banks

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.