New York State Teachers Retirement System Sells 16,593 Shares of United Community Banks, Inc. $UCB

New York State Teachers Retirement System lessened its holdings in shares of United Community Banks, Inc. (NYSE:UCB) by 14.1% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 101,323 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,593 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in United Community Banks were worth $3,191,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in United Community Banks in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in shares of United Community Banks by 196.1% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 992 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 657 shares during the period. Torren Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of United Community Banks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. First Horizon Corp boosted its position in shares of United Community Banks by 51.7% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 1,315 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 448 shares during the period. Finally, Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of United Community Banks in the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Institutional investors own 82.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Richard Bradshaw sold 1,510 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.09, for a total transaction of $49,965.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 84,497 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,796,005.73. This trade represents a 1.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.45% of the company’s stock.

United Community Banks Stock Performance

UCB opened at $35.22 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $33.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The stock has a market cap of $4.22 billion, a PE ratio of 12.95 and a beta of 0.81. United Community Banks, Inc. has a 1 year low of $28.65 and a 1 year high of $36.77.

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

United Community Banks Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. United Community Banks’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.76%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on UCB. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of United Community Banks from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 27th. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of United Community Banks from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of United Community Banks from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of United Community Banks from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $36.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of United Community Banks from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $38.40.

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.