United Community Banks, Inc. (NYSE:UCB) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

United Community Banks, Inc. (NYSE:UCB) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $38.40.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Hovde Group decreased their target price on shares of United Community Banks from $38.00 to $37.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on United Community Banks from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. TD Cowen raised United Community Banks to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Stephens raised their price objective on United Community Banks from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised United Community Banks from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other United Community Banks news, EVP Richard Bradshaw sold 1,510 shares of United Community Banks stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.09, for a total value of $49,965.90. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 84,497 shares in the company, valued at $2,796,005.73. The trade was a 1.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.45% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On United Community Banks

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of UCB. Norges Bank acquired a new position in United Community Banks during the fourth quarter worth approximately $48,450,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of United Community Banks during the 1st quarter valued at $34,183,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of United Community Banks by 70.6% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,380,627 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,103,000 after buying an additional 571,296 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of United Community Banks by 125.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 774,660 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,286,000 after buying an additional 431,491 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its holdings in shares of United Community Banks by 105.9% during the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 766,552 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,031,000 after buying an additional 394,263 shares during the last quarter. 82.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

United Community Banks Trading Down 1.9%

United Community Banks stock opened at $35.35 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $34.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.42. United Community Banks has a 52 week low of $28.65 and a 52 week high of $37.18. The stock has a market cap of $4.23 billion, a PE ratio of 13.00 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

United Community Banks (NYSE:UCB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.80 by ($0.09). United Community Banks had a net margin of 22.05% and a return on equity of 9.65%. The firm had revenue of $279.28 million during the quarter. Equities research analysts predict that United Community Banks will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United Community Banks Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. United Community Banks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.76%.

United Community Banks News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting United Community Banks this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Management said it expects about 7% loan growth excluding Navitas in Q3 and is targeting a roughly $150 million Q4 expense base, signaling continued operating discipline and growth momentum. United Community Banks signals ~7% ex-Navitas loan growth for Q3 while targeting ~$150M Q4 expense base
• Positive Sentiment: The company highlighted strong loan growth and its sixth consecutive quarter of margin expansion, which suggests improving core profitability. United Community Banks, Inc. Reports Second Quarter Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: An analyst note upgraded the stock from Hold to a soft Buy, citing transformation efforts, core growth, and solid asset quality as reasons the shares may be attractive. United Community Banks Is Finally Worth Banking On (Upgrade)
• Neutral Sentiment: Conference-call coverage and transcript-based summaries focused on management’s emphasis on strategic progress, but did not add materially new numbers beyond the earnings release. United Community Banks Inc (UCB) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Highlights: Strong EPS Growth Amid …
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation commentary suggested the stock looks reasonably priced on fair value, which may help support investor interest but is not a near-term catalyst. United Community Banks (UCB) Stock Looks Cheap On Fair Value While Earnings Look Fair
• Negative Sentiment: The main negative driver is the miss on both earnings and revenue estimates, which is likely weighing on the shares today. United Community Banks (UCB) Q2 Earnings and Revenues Miss Estimates

About United Community Banks

United Community Banks, Inc (NYSE: UCB) is a bank holding company headquartered in Blairsville, Georgia. It operates primarily through its subsidiary, United Community Bank, providing a broad range of banking and financial services to individual, business and governmental customers. The company’s core offerings include deposit accounts, commercial and consumer lending, mortgage origination, treasury and cash management services, and wealth management.

In addition to traditional banking products such as checking, savings and money market accounts, United Community Bank specializes in commercial real estate financing, small business administration (SBA) loans, equipment financing and agricultural lending.