Latest news with #AtlanticUnionBanksharesCorporation
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Atlantic Union Bankshares Corporation (AUB): Among Billionaire Ken Fisher's Finance Stock Picks with Huge Upside Potential
We recently published a list of . In this article, we are going to take a look at where Atlantic Union Bankshares Corporation (NYSE:AUB) stands against other billionaire Ken Fisher's finance stock picks with huge upside potential. The global financial industry includes banking, insurance, asset management, and capital market sectors, and plays a significant role in supporting economic activity. According to McKinsey, the banking industry handles assets worth $400 trillion as of 2025, bringing in about $7 trillion and $1.1 trillion in annual revenue and profits, respectively. On the other hand, the broader financial services sector is on the high, increasing more than 16% in the last year (as of writing this article), beating the broader market's 6% return for the same period. This robust growth is expected to continue throughout the remainder of 2025, with the momentum driven by dropping interest rates, cooling off inflation, and investors' faith in the sector, creating upside potential across various segments. Despite brief macroeconomic uncertainty, the U.S. economy improved more than expected in 2024, with GDP growth hitting about 2.7%. Although the progress is expected to slow down in 2025, with growth likely dropping to around 1.5%, the financial sector is holding strong, supported by expected Fed rate cuts, steadier regulations, and a comeback in market activity. Moreover, record consumer debt of $17.7 trillion and increasing corporate refinancing needs are expected to affect borrowing patterns. Looking ahead, financial companies stand strong to gain from the revival in financial markets, as recent forecasts indicate M&A activity, buyouts, and private lending picking up steam in 2025. Furthermore, companies are making strategic deals and investing in AI technology, fueling rapid growth in private markets. Additionally, private credit assets under management could double soon, as more businesses and individuals seek financing outside traditional banks. This surge in deals and fundraising follows several quiet years and sets up major financial players for solid profits. In contrast, the global insurance sector is dealing with economic turbulence, high inflation, and unpredictable interest rates. Personal property and casualty insurance grew 9.5% between 2022-2023, reaching $1.1 trillion, driven mostly by rate increases rather than new businesses. Thus, the sector is focused on innovation and geographic diversification, expanding into emerging Asian and Latin American markets. At the same time, in the U.S., affordability concerns are forcing insurers and other sectors to cut costs and improve their digital services. As such, innovation and digital transformation drive the financial sector, as banks alone have poured over $600 billion into tech upgrades, outspending even tech companies on IT, as reported by McKinsey. Despite this massive investment, labor productivity has dropped 4% over the last 15 years. This troubling decline has created pressure to make these tech investments pay off. Looking ahead, as AI, automation, and cloud are getting adopted, companies are expected to transform their business models and enhance digital services to boost efficiency and customer reach. Meanwhile, new tariff policies are shaking up global markets, further the macroeconomic uncertainty. Billionaire is still critical of these measures as he argues that it is unnecessary to worry about them. He posted the following statement on X. 'What Trump unveiled on Wednesday is stupid, wrong, arrogantly extreme, ignorant trade-wise and addressing a non-problem with misguided tools. It will fade and fail and the fear is bigger than the problem, which from here is bullish.' He strongly believes financial stocks may bounce back once the initial shock passes by, drawing a historical parallel: 'It may well be this goes something like the 1998 stock market correction leading to a 26% annual return.' As interest rates drop and economic pressures ease, investors are eyeing financial companies for potential recovery gains and strategic long-term positions. To compile this list, we reviewed Ken Fisher's SEC Q4 2024 13F filings. We picked 10 stocks that have the highest upside potential from their current levels as of April 22. Finally, we ranked the stocks in ascending order based on their highest analyst upside potential, while also laying out hedge fund sentiment for these stocks according to Insider Monkey's Q4 2024 database. Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter's strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (). Ken Fisher of Fisher Asset Management Atlantic Union Bankshares Corporation (NYSE:AUB) is a bank holding company for Atlantic Union Bank, providing financial services throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. Its business includes Wholesale and Consumer Banking segments, which offer deposit products, home and business loans, credit options, treasury services, and wealth management. Customers can access these services through branches, ATMs, and online platforms. For the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2024, Atlantic Union's earnings per share hit $0.67, falling short of what analysts expected. Net interest income stayed flat at $187 million, while the net interest margin dropped slightly by 5 basis points to 3.33%. Despite missing earnings targets, loans grew at an annual rate of 2.9% and deposits increased by 1.8%. The company also reduced brokered deposits by over $200 million, while credit quality stayed healthy overall. However, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corporation (NYSE:AUB) set aside $17.5 million because of issues with a specific commercial and industrial loan. Moreover, the Sandy Spring deal should wrap up by mid-2025, with only some regulatory approvals remaining. As part of this, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corporation (NYSE:AUB) plans to sell off $2 billion in commercial real estate loans. The increased CRE payoffs in Q4 suggest that healthy refinancing activity is occurring. Furthermore, the company's leadership is optimistic about economic conditions in Virginia, Maryland, and North Carolina, where unemployment stays below the national average. Looking ahead to 2025, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corporation (NYSE:AUB) expects loans and deposits to grow in the mid-single digits. It is expecting a net interest margin between 3.45% and 3.60%, while net interest income could reach up to $800 million, assuming the Fed cuts rates twice. Additionally, the company predicts that loan charge-offs might increase slightly, but it believes overall credit conditions should remain stable. With its growth plans, solid fundamentals, and strong regional presence, AUB fits well in the Ken Fisher Stock Portfolio, with a value-focused investment approach. This makes Atlantic Union Bankshares Corporation (NYSE:AUB) worth considering even during uncertain times in the financial sector. Overall, AUB ranks 1st on our list of billionaire Ken Fisher's finance stock picks with huge upside potential. While we acknowledge the potential of AUB as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter time frame. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than AUB but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock. READ NEXT: and . Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at . Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
05-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
The three-year earnings decline is not helping Atlantic Union Bankshares' (NYSE:AUB share price, as stock falls another 17% in past week
For many investors, the main point of stock picking is to generate higher returns than the overall market. But the risk of stock picking is that you will likely buy under-performing companies. We regret to report that long term Atlantic Union Bankshares Corporation (NYSE:AUB) shareholders have had that experience, with the share price dropping 29% in three years, versus a market return of about 15%. And over the last year the share price fell 24%, so we doubt many shareholders are delighted. The share price has dropped 31% in three months. Of course, this share price action may well have been influenced by the 16% decline in the broader market, throughout the period. After losing 17% this past week, it's worth investigating the company's fundamentals to see what we can infer from past performance. Trump has pledged to "unleash" American oil and gas and these 15 US stocks have developments that are poised to benefit. To quote Buffett, 'Ships will sail around the world but the Flat Earth Society will flourish. There will continue to be wide discrepancies between price and value in the marketplace...' One flawed but reasonable way to assess how sentiment around a company has changed is to compare the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price. Atlantic Union Bankshares saw its EPS decline at a compound rate of 25% per year, over the last three years. This fall in the EPS is worse than the 11% compound annual share price fall. So, despite the prior disappointment, shareholders must have some confidence the situation will improve, longer term. You can see how EPS has changed over time in the image below (click on the chart to see the exact values). We consider it positive that insiders have made significant purchases in the last year. Even so, future earnings will be far more important to whether current shareholders make money. This free interactive report on Atlantic Union Bankshares' earnings, revenue and cash flow is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further. When looking at investment returns, it is important to consider the difference between total shareholder return (TSR) and share price return. Whereas the share price return only reflects the change in the share price, the TSR includes the value of dividends (assuming they were reinvested) and the benefit of any discounted capital raising or spin-off. So for companies that pay a generous dividend, the TSR is often a lot higher than the share price return. We note that for Atlantic Union Bankshares the TSR over the last 3 years was -20%, which is better than the share price return mentioned above. This is largely a result of its dividend payments! We regret to report that Atlantic Union Bankshares shareholders are down 21% for the year (even including dividends). Unfortunately, that's worse than the broader market decline of 1.9%. However, it could simply be that the share price has been impacted by broader market jitters. It might be worth keeping an eye on the fundamentals, in case there's a good opportunity. On the bright side, long term shareholders have made money, with a gain of 3% per year over half a decade. If the fundamental data continues to indicate long term sustainable growth, the current sell-off could be an opportunity worth considering. While it is well worth considering the different impacts that market conditions can have on the share price, there are other factors that are even more important. For example, we've discovered 1 warning sign for Atlantic Union Bankshares that you should be aware of before investing here. If you like to buy stocks alongside management, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: most of them are flying under the radar). Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on American exchanges. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
Associated Press
31-01-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
Atlantic Union Bankshares Corporation Declares Quarterly Common Stock Dividend and Preferred Stock Dividend
RICHMOND, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan 31, 2025-- The Board of Directors (the 'Board') of Atlantic Union Bankshares Corporation (the 'Company') has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.34 per share of common stock, which is the same as the fourth quarter of 2024 and a $0.02, or an approximately 6%, increase from the dividend in the first quarter of 2024. Based on the Company's common stock closing price of $37.41 on January 30, 2025, the dividend yield is approximately 3.6%. The common stock dividend is payable on February 28, 2025 to common shareholders of record as of February 14, 2025. The Board also declared a quarterly dividend on the outstanding shares of the Company's 6.875% Perpetual Non-Cumulative Preferred Stock, Series A (the 'Series A preferred stock'). The Series A preferred stock is represented by depositary shares, each representing a 1/400 th ownership interest in a share of Series A preferred stock. The dividend of $171.88 per share (equivalent to $0.43 per outstanding depositary share) is payable on March 3, 2025 to holders of record as of February 14, 2025. About Atlantic Union Bankshares Corporation Headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corporation (NYSE: AUB) is the holding company for Atlantic Union Bank. Atlantic Union Bank had 129 branches located throughout Virginia and in portions of Maryland and North Carolina as of December 31, 2024. Certain non-bank financial services affiliates of Atlantic Union Bank include: Atlantic Union Equipment Finance, Inc., which provides equipment financing; Atlantic Union Financial Consultants, LLC, which provides brokerage services; and Union Insurance Group, LLC, which offers various lines of insurance products. PUB: 01/31/2025 01:58 PM/DISC: 01/31/2025 01:58 PM
