United Bankshares (NASDAQ:UBSI) Lowered to Sell at StockNews.com

United Bankshares (NASDAQ:UBSI) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued on Thursday.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on United Bankshares from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. DA Davidson increased their target price on United Bankshares from $36.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Stephens increased their target price on United Bankshares from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, United Bankshares currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.25.

United Bankshares Stock Performance

NASDAQ:UBSI opened at $36.42 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $37.22 and its 200 day moving average is $34.67. United Bankshares has a fifty-two week low of $25.35 and a fifty-two week high of $39.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.92 billion, a PE ratio of 13.90 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.00.

United Bankshares (NASDAQ:UBSI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.07. United Bankshares had a return on equity of 7.72% and a net margin of 22.44%. The company had revenue of $255.94 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $255.54 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.68 EPS. United Bankshares’s quarterly revenue was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that United Bankshares will post 2.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On United Bankshares

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in UBSI. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of United Bankshares during the 4th quarter worth $45,308,000. UBS Group AG grew its position in shares of United Bankshares by 77.5% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 316,889 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,899,000 after buying an additional 138,317 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its position in shares of United Bankshares by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 437,422 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,425,000 after buying an additional 10,011 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of United Bankshares by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 78,554 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,950,000 after buying an additional 4,108 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE grew its position in shares of United Bankshares by 30.1% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 24,656 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $926,000 after buying an additional 5,702 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.80% of the company’s stock.

About United Bankshares

United Bankshares, Inc, through its subsidiaries, primarily provides commercial and retail banking products and services in the United States. It operates through two segments, Community Banking and Mortgage Banking. The company accepts checking, savings, and time and money market accounts; individual retirement accounts; and demand deposits, statement and special savings, and NOW accounts.