Public Sector Pension Investment Board Buys 81,337 Shares of United Community Banks, Inc. (NASDAQ:UCB)

Key Points

• The Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its ownership in United Community Banks, Inc. by 27.4%, acquiring an additional 81,337 shares and bringing its total shares to 378,566, valued at approximately $10.6 million.
• Brokerages have set optimistic price targets for the stock, with ratings ranging from "market perform" to "outperform" and targets mostly around $36.00.
• United Community Banks recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.24 per share, reflecting a 3.0% dividend yield based on an annualized payout of $0.96.

Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its stake in shares of United Community Banks, Inc. (NASDAQ:UCB - Free Report) by 27.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 378,566 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 81,337 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board owned approximately 0.32% of United Community Banks worth $10,649,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in UCB. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in United Community Banks by 2.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,336,816 shares of the company's stock valued at $403,295,000 after purchasing an additional 404,866 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP acquired a new stake in United Community Banks in the fourth quarter valued at $195,766,000. Capital Research Global Investors acquired a new stake in United Community Banks in the fourth quarter valued at $148,763,000. Earnest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in United Community Banks in the fourth quarter valued at $113,536,000. Finally, Snyder Capital Management L P acquired a new stake in United Community Banks in the fourth quarter valued at $61,663,000. Institutional investors own 82.29% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UCB has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. DA Davidson increased their price target 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. Stephens reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $36.00 price target on shares of United Community Banks in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of United Community Banks from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Hovde Group raised their target price on shares of United Community Banks from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $34.57.

United Community Banks Stock Performance

United Community Banks stock traded down $0.37 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $31.19. The company's stock had a trading volume of 580,554 shares, compared to its average volume of 721,053. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $22.93 and a 1-year high of $35.38. The company has a market cap of $3.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.29 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $30.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $29.46.

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

United Community Banks Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This is a positive change from United Community Banks's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. United Community Banks's payout ratio is presently 43.64%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 shares were sold at an average price of $30.94, for a total value of $49,999.04. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 78,395 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,425,541.30. The trade was a 2.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.43% of the stock is owned by insiders.

United Community Banks 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.