Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Buys 67,399 Shares of United Community Banks, Inc. (NASDAQ:UCBI)

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in United Community Banks, Inc. (NASDAQ:UCBI) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,549,690 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 67,399 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s holdings in United Community Banks were worth $45,344,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of United Community Banks during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $72,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of United Community Banks during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $115,000. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of United Community Banks by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,493 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $131,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of United Community Banks by 111,360.0% during the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,573 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $163,000 after purchasing an additional 5,568 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio increased its stake in shares of United Community Banks by 17.6% during the fourth quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 6,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $175,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. 82.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

United Community Banks Price Performance

Shares of UCBI opened at $24.66 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.01 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $25.61 and a 200 day moving average of $26.68. United Community Banks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $21.63 and a twelve month high of $30.75.

United Community Banks (NASDAQ:UCBI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.02. United Community Banks had a net margin of 13.62% and a return on equity of 8.02%. The company had revenue of $225.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $232.00 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.58 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that United Community Banks, Inc. will post 2.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United Community Banks Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 5th. Investors of record on Saturday, June 15th will be issued a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. United Community Banks’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on UCBI shares. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of United Community Banks from $31.00 to $28.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of United Community Banks from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.60.

United Community Banks Company 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.