Russell Investments Group Ltd. Reduces Holdings in United Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:UBSI)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lowered its stake in shares of United Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:UBSI – Get Rating) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 46,875 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,140 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in United Bankshares were worth $1,898,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in United Bankshares by 24.5% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,156,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $498,550,000 after purchasing an additional 2,782,694 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of United Bankshares by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,508,712 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $471,184,000 after purchasing an additional 624,816 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in United Bankshares by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 18,874,678 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $658,348,000 after acquiring an additional 495,652 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in United Bankshares by 4.0% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,959,880 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $248,817,000 after purchasing an additional 265,610 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of United Bankshares by 18.1% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,020,806 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $35,605,000 after acquiring an additional 156,640 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.73% of the company’s stock.

United Bankshares Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:UBSI opened at $30.23 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $33.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. United Bankshares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $27.68 and a 12-month high of $44.15. The company has a market cap of $4.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.28 and a beta of 1.02.

United Bankshares (NASDAQ:UBSI – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 26th. The financial services provider reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.74. United Bankshares had a net margin of 31.24% and a return on equity of 8.78%. The company had revenue of $362.05 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $272.72 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. Equities analysts expect that United Bankshares, Inc. will post 2.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United Bankshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 8th. United Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.98%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on UBSI. Raymond James reduced their target price on United Bankshares from $44.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on United Bankshares from $38.00 to $36.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 6th. StockNews.com started coverage on United Bankshares in a research report on Thursday, May 18th. They set a “sell” rating on the stock. 3M reissued a “maintains” rating on shares of United Bankshares in a report on Friday, April 28th. Finally, Stephens assumed coverage on United Bankshares in a research note on Tuesday, April 4th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $32.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, United Bankshares currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.00.

United Bankshares Company Profile

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United Bankshares, Inc is a bank holding company, which engages in the provision of commercial and retail banking services and products. It operates through the following segments: Community Banking, Mortgage Banking, and Other. The Community Banking segment consists of both commercial and consumer lending and provides customers with such products as commercial loans, real estate loans, business financing, and consumer loans.