Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 19,503 Shares of Atlantic Union Bankshares Co. (NASDAQ:AUB)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in Atlantic Union Bankshares Co. (NASDAQ:AUB) by 4.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 423,265 shares of the company’s stock after selling 19,503 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Atlantic Union Bankshares were worth $15,944,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in shares of Atlantic Union Bankshares by 2.7% in the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 121,394 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,988,000 after buying an additional 3,192 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Atlantic Union Bankshares by 45.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,180,199 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,770,000 after purchasing an additional 368,190 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in shares of Atlantic Union Bankshares by 15.2% in the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 18,725 shares of the company’s stock valued at $615,000 after purchasing an additional 2,476 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Atlantic Union Bankshares in the second quarter valued at about $935,000. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Atlantic Union Bankshares by 6.1% during the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 47,697 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,567,000 after buying an additional 2,754 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.58% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AUB has been the topic of several analyst reports. Hovde Group cut their price target on shares of Atlantic Union Bankshares from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Atlantic Union Bankshares from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Raymond James dropped their price objective on Atlantic Union Bankshares from $45.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.00.

Atlantic Union Bankshares Price Performance

NASDAQ:AUB opened at $38.08 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $40.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The company has a market cap of $3.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.80 and a beta of 0.91. Atlantic Union Bankshares Co. has a one year low of $30.43 and a one year high of $44.54.

Atlantic Union Bankshares (NASDAQ:AUB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $358.81 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $226.70 million. Atlantic Union Bankshares had a net margin of 16.25% and a return on equity of 8.85%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.80 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Atlantic Union Bankshares Co. will post 2.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Atlantic Union Bankshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a $0.34 dividend. This is a positive change from Atlantic Union Bankshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Atlantic Union Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.43%.

About Atlantic Union Bankshares

Atlantic Union Bankshares Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Atlantic Union Bank that provides banking and related financial products and services to consumers and businesses in the United States. It operates in two segments, Wholesale Banking and Consumer Banking. The company accepts various deposit products, including checking, savings, time deposit, and money market accounts; certificates of deposit; and other depository services.