Legal & General Group Plc Sells 18,709 Shares of United Bankshares, Inc. $UBSI

Legal & General Group Plc lowered its stake in United Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:UBSI) by 8.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 212,239 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 18,709 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.15% of United Bankshares worth $8,150,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of UBSI. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of United Bankshares by 65.5% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 930,252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $34,615,000 after purchasing an additional 368,141 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of United Bankshares by 64.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 782,292 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,109,000 after purchasing an additional 307,159 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC increased its position in shares of United Bankshares by 89.5% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 520,964 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $19,385,000 after purchasing an additional 246,006 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC increased its position in shares of United Bankshares by 564.0% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 182,540 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,329,000 after purchasing an additional 155,051 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of United Bankshares by 11.4% in the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,367,319 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $50,878,000 after purchasing an additional 139,646 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on UBSI shares. Zacks Research lowered United Bankshares from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $49.00 price objective on shares of United Bankshares in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised United Bankshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, United Bankshares has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.75.

United Bankshares Stock Performance

NASDAQ:UBSI opened at $43.90 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.05 billion, a PE ratio of 12.30 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. United Bankshares, Inc. has a twelve month low of $34.10 and a twelve month high of $45.92.

United Bankshares (NASDAQ:UBSI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.04. United Bankshares had a return on equity of 9.26% and a net margin of 27.45%.The business had revenue of $316.58 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $315.15 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.59 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that United Bankshares, Inc. will post 3.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

United Bankshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. United Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.58%.

United Bankshares Company Profile

United Bankshares, Inc, headquartered in Charleston, West Virginia, is a bank holding company that provides a full range of financial services through its primary subsidiary, United Bank. The company’s core offerings include retail and commercial banking products such as checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, personal and business loans, mortgages, and treasury management services. In addition, United Bankshares delivers private banking, wealth management, trust and fiduciary solutions, and investment advisory services to meet the needs of individual, corporate, and institutional clients.

United Bankshares operates an extensive branch network across West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, the District of Columbia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina.