UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on UBS shares. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of UBS Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of UBS Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of UBS Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of UBS Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Kepler Capital Markets raised shares of UBS Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th.

UBS Group Trading Up 3.2 %

NYSE UBS opened at $34.15 on Monday. UBS Group has a 52 week low of $26.01 and a 52 week high of $35.84. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $33.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $109.48 billion, a PE ratio of 22.46 and a beta of 1.15.

UBS Group (NYSE:UBS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The bank reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.31 by ($0.08). UBS Group had a net margin of 6.93% and a return on equity of 5.93%. The company had revenue of $11.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.09) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that UBS Group will post 1.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UBS Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared an annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 16th will be paid a $0.90 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 16th. This is a positive change from UBS Group’s previous annual dividend of $0.23. UBS Group’s payout ratio is 19.08%.

Institutional Trading of UBS Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of UBS Group during the fourth quarter valued at $5,594,066,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its position in UBS Group by 162.6% in the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 28,307,335 shares of the bank’s stock worth $858,359,000 after acquiring an additional 17,525,749 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in UBS Group by 29.4% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 55,533,620 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,695,087,000 after acquiring an additional 12,609,616 shares in the last quarter. Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations bought a new stake in UBS Group in the fourth quarter worth about $233,591,000. Finally, SIH Partners LLLP bought a new stake in UBS Group in the fourth quarter worth about $214,546,000.

UBS Group Company Profile

UBS Group AG provides financial advice and solutions to private, institutional, and corporate clients worldwide. It operates through five divisions: Global Wealth Management, Personal & Corporate Banking, Asset Management, Investment Bank, and Non-core and Legacy. The company offers investment advice, estate and wealth planning, investing, corporate and banking, and investment management, as well as mortgage, securities-based, and structured lending solutions.