Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP Acquires New Position in United Community Banks, Inc. (NASDAQ:UCB)

Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP bought a new position in shares of United Community Banks, Inc. (NASDAQ:UCB) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 19,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $638,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. acquired a new stake in United Community Banks in the fourth quarter valued at $450,141,000. LPL Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of United Community Banks in the 4th quarter worth about $1,246,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in United Community Banks in the 4th quarter valued at about $771,000. Sei Investments Co. acquired a new position in United Community Banks during the fourth quarter worth about $11,881,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. acquired a new position in United Community Banks during the fourth quarter worth about $5,951,000. 82.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Richard Bradshaw sold 1,527 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.72, for a total value of $49,963.44. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 67,876 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,220,902.72. The trade was a 2.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Sally Pope Davis purchased 1,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were bought 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $92,012.16. The trade was a 122.95 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

United Community Banks Stock Performance

NASDAQ:UCB opened at $28.92 on Tuesday. United Community Banks, Inc. has a 1-year low of $26.00 and a 1-year high of $35.38. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.08. The firm has a market cap of $3.45 billion, a PE ratio of 14.17 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 Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. United Community Banks’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on UCB shares. Hovde Group dropped their price objective on shares of United Community Banks from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on United Community Banks from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Raymond James raised United Community Banks from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $35.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th.

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.