Union Bankshares (NASDAQ:UNB) Upgraded to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Union Bankshares (NASDAQ:UNB) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report published on Tuesday.

Union Bankshares Price Performance

NASDAQ UNB opened at $31.40 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $29.66. Union Bankshares has a 52-week low of $21.00 and a 52-week high of $37.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $142.09 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.19 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

Union Bankshares (NASDAQ:UNB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 15th. The bank reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter. Union Bankshares had a return on equity of 13.09% and a net margin of 11.74%.

Union Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 6th. Investors of record on Saturday, January 25th were issued a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 24th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.59%. Union Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 74.23%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Union Bankshares

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. 683 Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Union Bankshares during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $304,000. Alpine Global Management LLC acquired a new position in Union Bankshares during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $269,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Union Bankshares by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 30,880 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $893,000 after purchasing an additional 4,436 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in Union Bankshares by 13.2% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 18,708 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $541,000 after purchasing an additional 2,176 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cardinal Capital Management grew its holdings in Union Bankshares by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 76,087 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,200,000 after purchasing an additional 1,674 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 14.84% of the company’s stock.

Union Bankshares Company Profile

Union Bankshares, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Union Bank that provides retail, commercial, and municipal banking products and services in northern Vermont and New Hampshire. It offers retail depository services, such as personal checking, savings, money market, IRA/SEP/KEOGH, and health savings accounts, as well as certificates of deposit.