United Community Banks (NASDAQ:UCB) Raised to “Outperform” at Hovde Group

United Community Banks (NASDAQ:UCB) was upgraded by equities researchers at Hovde Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report issued on Monday. The brokerage currently has a $31.00 price objective on the stock, down from their previous price objective of $32.00. Hovde Group’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 28.23% from the stock’s current price.

UCB has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Raymond James raised shares of United Community Banks from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $35.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on United Community Banks from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd.

United Community Banks Stock Performance

NASDAQ:UCB opened at $24.18 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.78. United Community Banks has a fifty-two week low of $23.27 and a fifty-two week high of $35.38. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $30.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $30.99. The firm has a market cap of $2.89 billion, a PE ratio of 11.85 and a beta of 0.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO H Lynn Harton sold 31,679 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.84, for a total value of $1,072,017.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 112,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,805,104.96. This represents a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Sally Pope Davis purchased 1,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $28.19 per share, with a total value of $50,742.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,264 shares in the company, valued at $92,012.16. This trade represents a 122.95 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On United Community Banks

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Moody National Bank Trust Division purchased a new stake in shares of United Community Banks in the 1st quarter worth approximately $654,000. Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new position in shares of United Community Banks in the first quarter worth approximately $37,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB purchased a new stake in shares of United Community Banks during the first quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new position in United Community Banks in the 4th quarter worth approximately $11,492,000. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of United Community Banks during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,602,000. Institutional investors own 82.29% of the company’s stock.

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.