United Community Banks' (UCB) "Buy" Rating Reiterated at DA Davidson

Key Points

• DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating on United Community Banks and kept a $40 price target, implying about 14.45% upside from the current share price.
• Recent analyst opinions are mixed but generally constructive: several firms upgraded or raised targets, and the consensus rating remains Moderate Buy with an average price target of $38.80.
• UCB’s latest quarter showed EPS of $0.71, below the $0.80 estimate, even as revenue came in at $279.28 million and the company continues to see solid loan growth and margin expansion.

United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reiterated by research analysts at DA Davidson in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $40.00 price objective on the stock. DA Davidson's target price indicates a potential upside of 14.45% from the company's current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on UCB. TD Cowen upgraded United Community Banks to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings raised United Community Banks from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Wall Street Zen cut United Community Banks from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, June 27th. Stephens lifted their price objective on United Community Banks from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised United Community Banks from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $36.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, United Community Banks currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $38.80.

United Community Banks Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:UCB traded down $0.40 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $34.95. The company's stock had a trading volume of 466,535 shares, compared to its average volume of 915,155. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $34.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.82. The company has a market cap of $4.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.85 and a beta of 0.81. United Community Banks has a 12-month low of $28.65 and a 12-month high of $37.18.

United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.80 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $279.28 million for the quarter. United Community Banks had a return on equity of 9.65% and a net margin of 22.05%. On average, analysts forecast that United Community Banks will post 3.02 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at United Community Banks

In other news, EVP Richard Bradshaw sold 1,510 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 84,497 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,796,005.73. This represents a 1.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.45% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in United Community Banks during the fourth quarter worth $48,450,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of United Community Banks in the 1st quarter valued at $34,183,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of United Community Banks by 70.6% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,380,627 shares of the company's stock valued at $43,103,000 after purchasing an additional 571,296 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of United Community Banks by 125.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 774,660 shares of the company's stock worth $24,286,000 after purchasing an additional 431,491 shares during the period. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its holdings in shares of United Community Banks by 105.9% during the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 766,552 shares of the company's stock worth $24,031,000 after purchasing an additional 394,263 shares during the period. 82.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Trending Headlines about United Community Banks

Here are the key news stories impacting United Community Banks this week:

• Positive Sentiment: The company said loan growth remained strong, with about 7% ex-Navitas loan growth expected for Q3, while management is targeting a lower $150 million Q4 expense base, which could support profitability. Article title
• Positive Sentiment: Management highlighted sixth consecutive quarter of margin expansion and continued focus on core banking operations, which suggests underlying fundamentals are still improving. Article title
• Positive Sentiment: An analyst upgrade framed UCB as “finally worth banking on,” citing transformation efforts, core growth, solid asset quality, and benefits from strategic moves including the Peach State Bank & Trust acquisition. Article title
• Neutral Sentiment: Several recaps and transcript articles reiterated that Q2 EPS was $0.71 versus $0.66 a year ago, showing improvement even though results missed Wall Street estimates. Article title
• Neutral Sentiment: Fair-value commentary suggested the stock may still look inexpensive, but earnings are viewed as only fair, which is unlikely to be a strong immediate catalyst either way. Article title
• Negative Sentiment: UCB reported sales below analyst estimates, reinforcing concerns that the quarter was good operationally but not strong enough to meet market expectations. Article title

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.

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