United Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:UBSI) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

United Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:UBSI) was the target of a large drop in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,180,000 shares, a drop of 17.1% from the January 31st total of 2,630,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 595,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.7 days. Approximately 1.7% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Mark R. Nesselroad sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.16, for a total transaction of $234,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 35,424 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,387,203.84. This represents a 14.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 3.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of United Bankshares

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of United Bankshares by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,310,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $537,362,000 after purchasing an additional 115,681 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of United Bankshares by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 4,199,136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $157,678,000 after acquiring an additional 29,898 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of United Bankshares by 0.4% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,997,311 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $148,300,000 after buying an additional 14,833 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of United Bankshares by 1.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,306,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $122,695,000 after buying an additional 53,994 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of United Bankshares by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,774,018 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $66,614,000 after buying an additional 213,441 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

UBSI has been the subject of several recent research reports. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $43.00 price objective on shares of United Bankshares in a research note on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com lowered United Bankshares from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on United Bankshares from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th.

United Bankshares Stock Performance

United Bankshares stock opened at $35.23 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $37.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.86 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. United Bankshares has a 52 week low of $30.68 and a 52 week high of $44.43.

United Bankshares (NASDAQ:UBSI) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 24th. The financial services provider reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.01. United Bankshares had a return on equity of 7.60% and a net margin of 22.94%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.59 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that United Bankshares will post 2.81 earnings per share for the current year.

United Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.20%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. United Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.01%.

About United Bankshares

United Bankshares, Inc, through its subsidiaries, primarily provides commercial and retail banking products and services in the United States. It operates through two segments, Community Banking and Mortgage Banking. The company accepts checking, savings, and time and money market accounts; individual retirement accounts; and demand deposits, statement and special savings, and NOW accounts.