Key Points
- CAO Alan Kumler sold 12,043 shares at an average price of $35.36 for a total of $425,840.48, leaving him with 21,096 shares (a 36.34% reduction); the sale was disclosed in an SEC filing.
- UCB stock fell about 3.5%, opening at $33.89 and trading near its 52-week high of $35.72, with a market cap of $4.12 billion and a P/E of 12.98.
- The company slightly missed Q earnings (EPS $0.71 vs. $0.73 expected) while revenue rose 11% year-over-year; it pays a $0.25 quarterly dividend (3.0% yield) and has authorized a $100 million share buyback (~2.6% of shares).
United Community Banks, Inc. (NYSE:UCB - Get Free Report) CAO Alan Kumler sold 12,043 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.36, for a total transaction of $425,840.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 21,096 shares of the company's stock, valued at $745,954.56. This represents a 36.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.
United Community Banks Stock Down 3.5%
UCB stock opened at $33.89 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $4.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.98 and a beta of 0.83. United Community Banks, Inc. has a 52 week low of $22.93 and a 52 week high of $35.72. The company's 50-day moving average price is $32.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.
United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 14th. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.73 by ($0.02). United Community Banks had a net margin of 21.35% and a return on equity of 9.49%. The company had revenue of $278.39 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $273.80 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.61 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis.
United Community Banks Dividend Announcement
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 5th. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. United Community Banks's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.31%.
United Community Banks declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Monday, December 8th that permits the company to buyback $100.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.
Institutional Trading of United Community Banks
A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in United Community Banks by 7.0% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 55,319 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,557,000 after purchasing an additional 3,617 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of United Community Banks by 176.2% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 26,530 shares of the company's stock worth $746,000 after buying an additional 16,925 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of United Community Banks by 4.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 71,211 shares of the company's stock worth $2,003,000 after buying an additional 3,115 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in shares of United Community Banks in the first quarter valued at approximately $219,000. Finally, United Services Automobile Association purchased a new position in shares of United Community Banks during the first quarter valued at approximately $204,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.29% of the company's stock.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
UCB has been the topic of several research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of United Community Banks in a report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of United Community Banks from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Stephens raised their target price on shares of United Community Banks from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of United Community Banks from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of United Community Banks from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $37.50.
Read Our Latest Research Report on United Community Banks
United Community Banks Company Profile
(
Get Free Report)
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.
See Also
This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from InsiderTrades.com in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected].
