StockNews.com Downgrades Union Bankshares (NASDAQ:UNB) to Sell

StockNews.com lowered shares of Union Bankshares (NASDAQ:UNB) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Tuesday morning.

Union Bankshares Price Performance

NASDAQ:UNB opened at $35.60 on Tuesday. Union Bankshares has a one year low of $21.00 and a one year high of $37.70. The stock has a market cap of $161.09 million, a P/E ratio of 18.26 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $30.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.26.

Union Bankshares (NASDAQ:UNB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The bank reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter. Union Bankshares had a net margin of 11.74% and a return on equity of 13.14%.

Union Bankshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 7th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, October 26th were issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.04%. Union Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.85%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Union Bankshares

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cardinal Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of Union Bankshares by 15.1% during the 3rd quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 74,413 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,930,000 after purchasing an additional 9,784 shares during the last quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Union Bankshares in the 3rd quarter worth about $220,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Union Bankshares by 10.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 30,924 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $664,000 after purchasing an additional 2,914 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Union Bankshares by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 40,503 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,050,000 after purchasing an additional 1,188 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of Union Bankshares by 7.7% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 14,032 shares of the bank’s stock worth $301,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the period. 14.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.