Which Is a Better Investment, Glacier Bancorp, Inc. or United Community Banks, Inc. Stock?

By Rosalio Madrigal
September 02, 2026
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Sifting through countless of stocks in the Banks industry can be tedious, and sometimes two stocks are just too similar to judge which is the better investment. If you’re on the fence about investing in Glacier Bancorp, Inc., United Community Banks, Inc., United Community Banks or Inc. because you’re not sure how they measure up, it’s important to compare them on a few factors before making your decision.

Read on to learn how Glacier Bancorp, Inc., United Community Banks, Inc., United Community Banks and Inc. compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About Glacier Bancorp, Inc., United Community Banks, Inc., United Community Banks and Inc.

Glacier Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Glacier Bank that provides commercial banking services to individuals, small to medium-sized businesses, community organizations, and public entities in the United States. It offers retail banking; business banking and mortgage origination and loan servicing services. The company also accepts deposit products, including non-interest bearing deposit and interest bearing deposit accounts, such as negotiable order of withdrawal, demand deposit accounts, savings, money market deposits, fixed rate certificates of deposit, negotiated-rate jumbo certificates, and individual retirement accounts. In addition, it offers credit risk management, construction and permanent loans on residential real estate, consumer land or lot loans, unimproved land and land development loans, construction loans, commercial real estate loans, agricultural and consumer lending, home equity loans, and states and political subdivisions lending, as well as residential builder guidance lines comprising pre-sold and spec-home construction, and lot acquisition loans. Glacier Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1955 and is headquartered in Kalispell, Montana.

United Community Banks, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for United Community Bank that provides financial services in the United States. The company offers deposit products, including checking, savings, money market, and other deposit accounts. It also provides loans comprising owner occupied and income producing CRE, commercial and industrial, equipment financing, residential mortgage, home equity, manufactured housing, and consumer loans, as well as commercial and residential construction and land. In addition, the company offers private banking, investment management, investment advice, financial planning services, estate and retirement planning, and insurance products; non-deposit investment products and insurance products, such as life insurance, long-term care insurance and tax-deferred annuities; and trust services to manage fiduciary assets. Further, it provides reinsurance on property insurance contracts and payment processing services for commercial and small business customers. The company serves the commercial, retail, government, education, energy, health care, and real estate sectors. United Community Banks, Inc. was founded in 1950 and is headquartered in Greenville, South Carolina.

United Community Banks, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for United Community Bank that provides financial services in the United States. The company offers deposit products, including checking, savings, money market, and other deposit accounts. It also provides loans comprising owner occupied and income producing CRE, commercial and industrial, equipment financing, residential mortgage, home equity, manufactured housing, and consumer loans, as well as commercial and residential construction and land. In addition, the company offers private banking, investment management, investment advice, financial planning services, estate and retirement planning, and insurance products; non-deposit investment products and insurance products, such as life insurance, long-term care insurance and tax-deferred annuities; and trust services to manage fiduciary assets. Further, it provides reinsurance on property insurance contracts and payment processing services for commercial and small business customers. The company serves the commercial, retail, government, education, energy, health care, and real estate sectors. United Community Banks, Inc. was founded in 1950 and is headquartered in Greenville, South Carolina.

Latest Banks and Glacier Bancorp, Inc., United Community Banks, Inc. Stock News

As of September 1, 2026, Glacier Bancorp, Inc. had a $5.9 billion market capitalization, compared to the Banks median of $730.8 million. Glacier Bancorp, Inc.’s stock is NA in 2026, NA in the previous five trading days and down 7.75% in the past year.

Currently, Glacier Bancorp, Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 18.6. Glacier Bancorp, Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $1.1 billion with a 27.6% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 41.5%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $3.122 per share for the current fiscal year. Glacier Bancorp, Inc. currently has a 2.9% dividend yield.

Currently, United Community Banks, Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 11.2. United Community Banks, Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $1.1 billion with a 34.1% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 24.4%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $2.918 per share for the current fiscal year. United Community Banks, Inc. currently has a 2.9% dividend yield.

How We Compare Glacier Bancorp, Inc., United Community Banks, Inc., United Community Banks and Inc. Stock Grades

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movements. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors streamline and work through such data.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at Glacier Bancorp, Inc., United Community Banks, Inc., United Community Banks and Inc.’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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Glacier Bancorp, Inc., United Community Banks, Inc., United Community Banks and Inc. Growth Grades

Company Ticker Growth
Glacier Bancorp, Inc. GBCI B
United Community Banks, Inc. UCB A
United Community Banks, Inc. UCB A

The foundation of growth investing is seeking out stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth that is expected to continue into the future.

In order to compute the growth score and assign it a letter grade, the percentile ranks for each of three components‐consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations‐must be determined. These three rank figures are added together, and the sum is ranked against the entire stock universe to arrive at a company’s Growth Score to create an equal distribution of grades.

The companies in the bottom 20% of the stock universe receive Growth Grades of F, considered to be very weak, while those in the top 20% receive A grades, which are considered very strong.

Glacier Bancorp, Inc. has a Growth Score of 73, which is Strong. United Community Banks, Inc. has a Growth Score of 82, which is Very Strong. United Community Banks, Inc. has a Growth Score of 82, which is Very Strong.

The Growth Grade Winner: United Community Banks, Inc.

As you can clearly see from the Growth Grade breakdown above, United Community Banks, Inc. has a more attractive growth grade than Glacier Bancorp, Inc.. For investors who focus solely on how a company is growing relative to other companies in the same industry, United Community Banks, Inc. could be a good stock to add to their portfolio. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Glacier Bancorp, Inc., United Community Banks, Inc., United Community Banks and Inc.’s Momentum Grades

Company Ticker Momentum
Glacier Bancorp, Inc. GBCI D
United Community Banks, Inc. UCB C
United Community Banks, Inc. UCB C

Momentum grades help to uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming. Momentum is based on the price change of a stock over a specified period relative to all other stocks.

Typically, AAII looks at the weighted relative strength over the trailing four quarters. The weighted four-quarter relative strength rank is the relative price change for each of the past four quarters. The most recent quarterly price change is given a weight of 40% and each of the three previous quarters are given a weighting of 20%.

Glacier Bancorp, Inc. has a Momentum Score of 34, which is Weak. United Community Banks, Inc. has a Momentum Score of 45, which is Average. United Community Banks, Inc. has a Momentum Score of 45, which is Average.

The Momentum Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither Glacier Bancorp, Inc., United Community Banks, Inc., United Community Banks or Inc. has a strong enough Momentum Grade to be considered a “winner.” Investors considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolios. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if Glacier Bancorp, Inc., United Community Banks, Inc., United Community Banks or Inc. is the better investment when it comes to momentum.

Glacier Bancorp, Inc., United Community Banks, Inc., United Community Banks and Inc.’s Estimate Revisions Grades

Company Ticker Earnings Estimate
Glacier Bancorp, Inc. GBCI C
United Community Banks, Inc. UCB D
United Community Banks, Inc. UCB D

Earnings estimate revisions scores consider the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, positive surprises beget further positive surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).

Estimate revisions offer an indication of what analysts are thinking about the short-term prospects of a firm. Estimate revisions are based on the statistical significance of a firm’s last two quarterly earnings surprises and the percentage change in its consensus estimate for the current fiscal year over the past month and past three months.

Glacier Bancorp, Inc. has a Earnings Estimate Score of 41, which is Neutral. United Community Banks, Inc. has a Earnings Estimate Score of 28, which is Negative. United Community Banks, Inc. has a Earnings Estimate Score of 28, which is Negative.

The Earnings Estimate Revisions Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither Glacier Bancorp, Inc., United Community Banks, Inc., United Community Banks or Inc. has an Earnings Estimate Revisions Grade that could be considered a “winner.” Investors considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolios. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if Glacier Bancorp, Inc., United Community Banks, Inc., United Community Banks or Inc. is the better investment when it comes to estimate revisions.

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Other Glacier Bancorp, Inc., United Community Banks, Inc., United Community Banks and Inc. Grades

In addition to Estimate Revisions, Growth and Momentum, A+ Investor also provides grades for Value and Quality.

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Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection. Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.

AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the ranking of key metrics. Specifically, the quality grade is the percentile rank of the composite of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and F-Score.

These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a particular stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether Glacier Bancorp, Inc., United Community Banks, Inc., United Community Banks and Inc. pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, Glacier Bancorp, Inc., United Community Banks, Inc., United Community Banks or Inc. Stock?

Overall, Glacier Bancorp, Inc. stock has a Growth Score of 73, Momentum Score of 34 and Estimate Revisions Score of 41.

United Community Banks, Inc. stock has a Growth Score of 82, Momentum Score of 45 and Estimate Revisions Score of 28.

United Community Banks, Inc. stock has a Growth Score of 82, Momentum Score of 45 and Estimate Revisions Score of 28.

Comparing Glacier Bancorp, Inc., United Community Banks, Inc., United Community Banks and Inc.’s grades, scores and metrics can act as a solid basis to determine whether they may be a good investment or not. You’ll also want to look at your portfolio’s asset allocation as well as your risk tolerance and financial goals to see if either of these stocks would make a good fit for you. AAII can help you figure out which investments align with your individual needs and preferences.

Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets‐without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.

A+ Investor adds to our qualitative teaching with a powerful data suite to help you whittle down investment choices to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

Learn More About A+ Investor

AAII Disclaimer

We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith, and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.



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