Schroder Investment Management Group Acquires New Shares in United Community Banks, Inc. (NASDAQ:UCB)

Schroder Investment Management Group bought a new position in shares of United Community Banks, Inc. (NASDAQ:UCB) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 420,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,571,000. Schroder Investment Management Group owned approximately 0.35% of United Community Banks at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of United Community Banks during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $349,000. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in United Community Banks in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $232,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA bought a new stake in shares of United Community Banks during the fourth quarter worth $471,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of United Community Banks during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of United Community Banks in the 4th quarter valued at $560,000. Institutional investors own 82.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at United Community Banks

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on UCB. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on United Community Banks from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Hovde Group cut their price target on United Community Banks from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Raymond James raised United Community Banks from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $35.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th.

United Community Banks Stock Performance

Shares of United Community Banks stock opened at $25.40 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.45 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. United Community Banks, Inc. has a twelve month low of $25.28 and a twelve month high of $35.38. The company’s fifty day moving average is $30.93 and its 200 day moving average is $31.01.

United Community Banks Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 4th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.78%. United Community Banks’s payout ratio is 47.06%.

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.