Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Purchases Shares of 40,271 United Community Banks, Inc. (NASDAQ:UCB)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System purchased a new stake in United Community Banks, Inc. (NASDAQ:UCB) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 40,271 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,301,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of United Community Banks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $80,000. Patten & Patten Inc. TN acquired a new stake in shares of United Community Banks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $255,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of United Community Banks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $273,000. Xponance Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of United Community Banks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $278,000. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new stake in shares of United Community Banks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $362,000. 82.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on UCB shares. Raymond James raised United Community Banks from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $35.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on United Community Banks from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Hovde Group decreased their price target on United Community Banks from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday.

United Community Banks Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ UCB opened at $27.94 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $31.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.07. The company has a market cap of $3.34 billion, a PE ratio of 13.70 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.78. United Community Banks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $26.00 and a 1-year high of $35.38.

United Community Banks Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Richard Bradshaw sold 1,527 shares of United Community Banks stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.72, for a total transaction of $49,963.44. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 67,876 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,220,902.72. This trade represents a 2.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO H Lynn Harton sold 31,679 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.84, for a total value of $1,072,017.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 112,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,805,104.96. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

United Community Banks 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.