Atlantic Union Bankshares (NASDAQ:AUB) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Should You Buy?

Atlantic Union Bankshares Co. (NASDAQ:AUB) shares saw unusually-strong trading volume on Wednesday . Approximately 530,585 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 6% from the previous session’s volume of 499,341 shares.The stock last traded at $41.56 and had previously closed at $37.86.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on AUB. Hovde Group reduced their price objective on shares of Atlantic Union Bankshares from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Raymond James cut their price target on Atlantic Union Bankshares from $45.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Atlantic Union Bankshares from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $40.40.

Atlantic Union Bankshares Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.21 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a 50-day moving average of $37.77 and a 200-day moving average of $35.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Atlantic Union Bankshares (NASDAQ:AUB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82 by $0.01. Atlantic Union Bankshares had a net margin of 16.25% and a return on equity of 8.85%. The company had revenue of $358.81 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $226.70 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.80 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Atlantic Union Bankshares Co. will post 3.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Atlantic Union Bankshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.15%. This is a positive change from Atlantic Union Bankshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. Atlantic Union Bankshares’s payout ratio is presently 53.11%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Atlantic Union Bankshares

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Atlantic Union Bankshares by 13.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,681,290 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,626,000 after purchasing an additional 690,400 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its position in Atlantic Union Bankshares by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 2,658,342 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,327,000 after purchasing an additional 30,586 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Atlantic Union Bankshares by 8.8% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,595,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,420,000 after buying an additional 128,447 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Atlantic Union Bankshares by 45.3% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,180,199 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,770,000 after acquiring an additional 368,190 shares during the period. Finally, Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH raised its holdings in Atlantic Union Bankshares by 9.6% in the 2nd quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 612,181 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,110,000 after acquiring an additional 53,740 shares in the last quarter. 78.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Atlantic Union Bankshares

Atlantic Union Bankshares Corporation operates as the bank holding company for Atlantic Union Bank that provides banking and related financial products and services to consumers and businesses in the United States. It operates in two segments, Wholesale Banking and Consumer Banking. The company accepts various deposit products, including checking, savings, time deposit, and money market accounts; certificates of deposit; and other depository services.