United Community Banks (NASDAQ:UCB) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

United Community Banks, Inc. (NASDAQ:UCB)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Thursday after Hovde Group lowered their price target on the stock from $36.00 to $32.00. The stock had previously closed at $28.93, but opened at $27.67. Hovde Group currently has a market perform rating on the stock. United Community Banks shares last traded at $28.70, with a volume of 18,358 shares changing hands.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on UCB. Raymond James raised shares of United Community Banks from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $35.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of United Community Banks from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd.

Insider Buying and Selling at United Community Banks

In other United Community Banks news, CEO H Lynn Harton sold 31,679 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.84, for a total transaction of $1,072,017.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 112,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,805,104.96. This represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Sally Pope Davis purchased 1,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $28.19 per share, with a total value of $50,742.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,264 shares in the company, valued at $92,012.16. This trade represents a 122.95 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UCB. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in United Community Banks in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in United Community Banks in the 4th quarter worth $42,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC bought a new position in United Community Banks in the 4th quarter worth $45,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC bought a new position in United Community Banks in the 4th quarter worth $59,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC bought a new position in United Community Banks in the 4th quarter worth $80,000. 82.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

United Community Banks Stock Down 0.6 %

The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.70 and a beta of 0.90. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $31.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.07.

United Community Banks Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.44%. United Community Banks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.06%.

About United Community Banks

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.