United Community Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:UCFC) Shares Bought by Renaissance Technologies LLC

Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of United Community Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:UCFC) by 9.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,261,304 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after buying an additional 107,986 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned about 2.54% of United Community Financial Corp. worth $10,519,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of United Community Financial Corp. by 1.7% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,014,153 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $25,138,000 after buying an additional 48,944 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in United Community Financial Corp. by 2.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,832,635 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $15,285,000 after buying an additional 38,282 shares in the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. increased its stake in United Community Financial Corp. by 1.1% in the first quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 884,380 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $7,376,000 after buying an additional 9,568 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in United Community Financial Corp. by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 729,357 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $6,520,000 after buying an additional 31,454 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in United Community Financial Corp. by 3.6% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 398,842 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $3,326,000 after buying an additional 13,709 shares in the last quarter. 58.79% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

United Community Financial Corp. (NASDAQ UCFC) traded up 2.85% during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $9.03. 43,497 shares of the company’s stock traded hands. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $8.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $8.54. The stock has a market cap of $448.93 million, a P/E ratio of 21.81 and a beta of 0.57. United Community Financial Corp. has a 1-year low of $6.41 and a 1-year high of $9.50.

United Community Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:UCFC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 20th. The savings and loans company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.02. United Community Financial Corp. had a net margin of 18.95% and a return on equity of 8.90%. The company had revenue of $27.58 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.20 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that United Community Financial Corp. will post $0.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 11th. Investors of record on Friday, July 28th were paid a $0.04 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 26th. This is a boost from United Community Financial Corp.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.03. This represents a $0.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.77%. United Community Financial Corp.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.02%.

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Several analysts have commented on UCFC shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $11.00 target price on shares of United Community Financial Corp. in a research report on Friday, July 21st. Zacks Investment Research raised shares of United Community Financial Corp. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $9.50 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 2nd. Finally, Boenning Scattergood set a $10.00 target price on shares of United Community Financial Corp. and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 19th.

In related news, General Counsel Jude J. Nohra sold 12,218 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.37, for a total value of $102,264.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 80,867 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $676,856.79. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Timothy Esson sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.35, for a total value of $25,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 60,692 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $506,778.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 17,718 shares of company stock valued at $148,990 over the last three months. 3.56% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About United Community Financial Corp.

United Community Financial Corp. is financial services holding company. The Company’s subsidiaries include The Home Savings and Loan Company of Youngstown, Ohio (Home Savings or the Bank), HSB Insurance, LLC and HSB Capital, LLC. The principal business of Home Savings is the origination of mortgage loans, including construction loans, on residential and nonresidential real estate located in Home Savings’ primary market area.