Raymond James Upgrades United Community Banks (UCB) to Outperform

Raymond James analyst Michael Rose upgraded United Community Banks (NYSE: UCB) from Market Perform to Outperform with a price target of $35.00.

The analyst comments "We are upgrading UCB shares from Market Perform to Outperform to reflect our view that the company will reap the benefits of the coming de-regulatory environment via a series of M&A transactions in coming years, which it recently kicked off with the announced acquisition of ANB Holdings (link, link). Indeed, we generally expect to see an overall friendlier environment for bank M&A in 2025 across all asset size classes (except for the G-SIBs, which will likely continue to face hurdles in seeking approval) and where we see banks being allowed to announce multiple deals per year. We see this as playing into UCB’s opportunistic M&A strategy where it typically targets smaller banks in the ~$1-3 billion range. Additionally, we view its fundamental story positively where we project accelerating loan growth, benign credit trends, and improved profitability in the new year. Finally, we see the company as an attractive acquisition candidate over time given its relative size (~$27.4 billion) and solid market share in several strong/higher growth markets in Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, where it ranks 7th, 15th, and 8th in deposit market share."

For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on United Community Banks click here. For more ratings news on United Community Banks click here.

Shares of United Community Banks closed at $31.09 yesterday.

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