Smith Thornton Advisors LLC Makes New $474,000 Investment in United Community Banks, Inc. (NASDAQ:UCB)

Smith Thornton Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of United Community Banks, Inc. (NASDAQ:UCB - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 16,857 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $474,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Amalgamated Bank purchased a new position in shares of United Community Banks in the 1st quarter valued at about $957,000. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in United Community Banks in the first quarter worth approximately $132,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System acquired a new position in United Community Banks during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,897,000. Bank of Montreal Can acquired a new position in United Community Banks during the 4th quarter worth approximately $508,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of United Community Banks in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $665,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.29% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UCB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James Financial reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of United Community Banks in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on United Community Banks from $38.00 to $33.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and set a $36.00 target price on shares of United Community Banks in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Hovde Group upgraded shares of United Community Banks from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $32.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of United Community Banks from $35.00 to $32.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $33.14.

United Community Banks Stock Performance

NASDAQ UCB traded down $0.50 during trading on Friday, reaching $31.17. The company's stock had a trading volume of 414,056 shares, compared to its average volume of 663,494. The firm has a market cap of $3.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.28 and a beta of 0.78. United Community Banks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $22.93 and a twelve month high of $35.38. The business's fifty day moving average price is $29.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $29.66. 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 Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 3rd. Investors of record on Sunday, June 15th were given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.08%. United Community Banks's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.50%.

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.