Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in United Community Banks, Inc. (NASDAQ:UCBI)

Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its position in United Community Banks, Inc. (NASDAQ:UCBI) by 12.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,493 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,144 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc.’s holdings in United Community Banks were worth $307,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of United Community Banks by 1.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,278,707 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $337,412,000 after purchasing an additional 245,944 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of United Community Banks by 15.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,518,870 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $216,464,000 after purchasing an additional 1,117,539 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of United Community Banks by 21.4% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,913,924 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,633,000 after purchasing an additional 337,102 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of United Community Banks by 17.6% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,772,058 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,028,000 after purchasing an additional 265,356 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of United Community Banks by 7.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,169,530 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,718,000 after purchasing an additional 78,319 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.29% of the company’s stock.

United Community Banks Trading Up 1.1 %

NASDAQ:UCBI opened at $25.54 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.48 and a beta of 0.94. United Community Banks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $20.37 and a 1 year high of $30.75. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $25.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $26.22.

United Community Banks (NASDAQ:UCBI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $165.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $226.07 million. United Community Banks had a return on equity of 8.32% and a net margin of 14.29%. United Community Banks’s revenue was down 25.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.75 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that United Community Banks, Inc. will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United Community Banks Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. United Community Banks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UCBI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler upped their price target on United Community Banks from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on United Community Banks from $31.00 to $28.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 1st. TheStreet cut United Community Banks from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. StockNews.com upgraded United Community Banks to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of United Community Banks in a research report on Monday, January 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.00.

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.