59,500 Shares in United Community Banks, Inc. (NASDAQ:UCBI) Bought by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in United Community Banks, Inc. (NASDAQ:UCBI) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 59,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,741,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System owned 0.05% of United Community Banks as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of UCBI. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC raised its holdings in United Community Banks by 97.5% during the second quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 960 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 474 shares during the period. Carmel Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in United Community Banks during the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Belpointe Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in United Community Banks by 113.1% during the first quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 1,385 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 735 shares during the period. State of Wyoming raised its holdings in United Community Banks by 25.9% during the second quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 1,898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares during the period. Finally, Money Concepts Capital Corp bought a new stake in United Community Banks during the fourth quarter valued at about $105,000. 82.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

United Community Banks Trading Up 0.5 %

UCBI opened at $24.70 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.94 and a beta of 0.94. United Community Banks, Inc. has a 12 month low of $20.37 and a 12 month high of $30.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $25.72 and a 200 day moving average of $26.19.

United Community Banks (NASDAQ:UCBI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.01. United Community Banks had a return on equity of 8.32% and a net margin of 14.29%. The business had revenue of $165.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $226.07 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.75 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 25.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that United Community Banks, Inc. will post 2.19 EPS for the current year.

United Community Banks Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.72%. United Community Banks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on UCBI shares. Truist Financial decreased their price target on United Community Banks from $31.00 to $28.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 1st. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on United Community Banks from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. StockNews.com raised United Community Banks to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. TheStreet cut United Community Banks from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of United Community Banks in a report on Monday, January 15th. One 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.00.

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.