United Bankshares (NASDAQ:UBSI) Sets New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

United Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:UBSI)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday. The stock traded as high as $50.36 and last traded at $49.1990, with a volume of 69,383 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $48.47.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on UBSI. Weiss Ratings raised United Bankshares from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Monday. Wall Street Zen raised United Bankshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday. Hovde Group increased their price objective on United Bankshares from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on United Bankshares from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on United Bankshares from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, United Bankshares currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.20.

United Bankshares Stock Performance

The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $47.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $44.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The firm has a market cap of $6.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.38 and a beta of 0.73.

United Bankshares (NASDAQ:UBSI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The financial services provider reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.93 by $0.01. United Bankshares had a net margin of 28.03% and a return on equity of 9.37%. The firm had revenue of $325.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $327.23 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.92 EPS. Analysts expect that United Bankshares, Inc. will post 3.74 earnings per share for the current year.

United Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th were issued a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 11th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. United Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.19%.

Insider Activity at United Bankshares

In other news, Director Mark Nesselroad sold 3,200 shares of United Bankshares stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.42, for a total transaction of $148,544.00. Following the sale, the director owned 32,224 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,495,838.08. The trade was a 9.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 3.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in United Bankshares in the second quarter valued at approximately $64,802,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new position in shares of United Bankshares during the second quarter worth approximately $1,654,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new position in shares of United Bankshares during the second quarter worth approximately $5,875,000. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new position in shares of United Bankshares during the second quarter worth approximately $6,697,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of United Bankshares in the 2nd quarter valued at $8,792,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.80% of the company’s stock.

About United Bankshares

United Bankshares, Inc is a financial holding company that operates through its subsidiary, United Bank. The company provides a broad range of banking and financial services to individuals, businesses, nonprofit organizations and government entities.

United Bank’s offerings include checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, residential and commercial real estate lending, consumer loans, commercial and industrial financing, treasury management and online and mobile banking.