Hovde Group Has Lowered Expectations for United Community Banks (NASDAQ:UCB) Stock Price

United Community Banks (NASDAQ:UCB) had its target price cut by stock analysts at Hovde Group from $36.00 to $32.00 in a research note issued on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a “market perform” rating on the stock. Hovde Group’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 14.51% from the company’s current price.

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

United Community Banks Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:UCB opened at $27.94 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $3.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.70 and a beta of 0.90. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $31.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.07. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $26.00 and a fifty-two week high of $35.38.

Insider Activity

In other United Community Banks news, CEO H Lynn Harton sold 31,679 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,805,104.96. The trade was a 21.98 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Richard Bradshaw sold 1,527 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.72, for a total value of $49,963.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 67,876 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,220,902.72. This trade represents a 2.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of United Community Banks

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. California State Teachers Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of United Community Banks during the 4th quarter worth $3,602,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in United Community Banks during the 4th quarter worth $666,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp purchased a new stake in United Community Banks during the 4th quarter worth $247,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in United Community Banks during the 4th quarter worth $42,000. Finally, GTS Securities LLC purchased a new stake in United Community Banks during the 4th quarter worth $220,000. 82.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.