United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to "Sell"

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) from “hold” to “sell,” even though the broader analyst picture remains mixed-to-positive with an average rating of “Moderate Buy.”
• The stock was trading around $33.37, below the average analyst price target of $38.40, and the company has a market cap of about $3.99 billion.
• Recent earnings were solid: UCB posted $0.70 EPS, matching estimates, while revenue rose 11.6% year over year; an executive also sold a small portion of shares, though institutional ownership remains high at 82.29%.

United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB - Get Free Report) was downgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

UCB has been the topic of a number of other reports. Stephens raised their target price on shares of United Community Banks from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of United Community Banks from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Hovde Group lowered their target price on shares of United Community Banks from $38.00 to $37.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of United Community Banks from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of United Community Banks from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, United Community Banks presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $38.40.

United Community Banks Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of UCB opened at $33.37 on Friday. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $32.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.22. The company has a market capitalization of $3.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.27 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. United Community Banks has a 1-year low of $27.23 and a 1-year high of $36.77.

United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.70. The business had revenue of $276.51 million for the quarter. United Community Banks had a net margin of 22.05% and a return on equity of 9.65%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.58 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that United Community Banks will post 2.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at United Community Banks

In related news, EVP Richard Bradshaw sold 1,510 shares of United Community Banks stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.09, for a total value of $49,965.90. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 84,497 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,796,005.73. The trade was a 1.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.45% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of United Community Banks

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in United Community Banks by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,514,731 shares of the company's stock valued at $453,150,000 after acquiring an additional 120,156 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in United Community Banks by 2.9% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,520,132 shares of the company's stock valued at $205,315,000 after acquiring an additional 182,397 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in United Community Banks by 7.4% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,805,308 shares of the company's stock valued at $56,362,000 after acquiring an additional 124,347 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in United Community Banks in the fourth quarter valued at $48,450,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in United Community Banks by 70.6% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,380,627 shares of the company's stock valued at $43,103,000 after acquiring an additional 571,296 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.29% of the company's stock.

About United Community Banks

United Community Banks, Inc NYSE: UCB is a bank holding company headquartered in Blairsville, Georgia. It operates primarily through its subsidiary, United Community Bank, providing a broad range of banking and financial services to individual, business and governmental customers. The company's core offerings include deposit accounts, commercial and consumer lending, mortgage origination, treasury and cash management services, and wealth management.

In addition to traditional banking products such as checking, savings and money market accounts, United Community Bank specializes in commercial real estate financing, small business administration (SBA) loans, equipment financing and agricultural lending.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.