TD Cowen Upgrades United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) to Strong-Buy

United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) was upgraded by analysts at TD Cowen to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on UCB. Weiss Ratings upgraded United Community Banks from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. DA Davidson upped their price target on United Community Banks from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Wall Street Zen cut United Community Banks from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, June 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded United Community Banks from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $36.00 to $40.00 in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Stephens raised their price objective on United Community Banks from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $38.40.

United Community Banks Stock Performance

NYSE:UCB opened at $37.04 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.62 and a beta of 0.81. The company’s 50-day moving average is $33.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.33. United Community Banks has a 1-year low of $28.65 and a 1-year high of $37.18.

United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 21st. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.70. The business had revenue of $278.26 million during the quarter. United Community Banks had a net margin of 22.05% and a return on equity of 9.65%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.58 EPS. Analysts forecast that United Community Banks will post 3.02 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at United Community Banks

In other United Community Banks news, EVP Richard Bradshaw sold 1,510 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.09, for a total transaction of $49,965.90. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 84,497 shares in the company, valued at $2,796,005.73. This represents a 1.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.45% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On United Community Banks

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of UCB. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in United Community Banks by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 9,955 shares of the company’s stock worth $311,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in United Community Banks by 13.2% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,894 shares of the company’s stock valued at $102,000 after acquiring an additional 338 shares in the last quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its stake in United Community Banks by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 17,808 shares of the company’s stock worth $556,000 after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its stake in United Community Banks by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 11,761 shares of the company’s stock worth $367,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of United Community Banks by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,880 shares of the company’s stock worth $123,000 after purchasing an additional 372 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.29% of the company’s stock.

About United Community Banks

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.