BNP Paribas Lowers UBS Group (NYSE:UBS) to Neutral

BNP Paribas lowered shares of UBS Group (NYSE:UBS) from an outperform rating to a neutral rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Marketbeat reports.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley raised shares of UBS Group from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, March 8th. Societe Generale raised shares of UBS Group from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of UBS Group from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Friday, December 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold.

UBS Group Price Performance

Shares of UBS Group stock opened at $27.37 on Monday. UBS Group has a 1 year low of $18.71 and a 1 year high of $32.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.23. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.27.

UBS Group (NYSE:UBS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The bank reported ($0.09) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.18). The business had revenue of $10.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.06 billion. UBS Group had a return on equity of 7.56% and a net margin of 43.70%. The company’s revenue was up 35.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.50 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that UBS Group will post 1.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UBS Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared an annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 2nd will be issued a $0.228 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 1st. This represents a yield of 0.82%. This is a boost from UBS Group’s previous annual dividend of $0.18. UBS Group’s payout ratio is 2.00%.

Institutional Trading of UBS Group

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of UBS Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $128,000. DAVENPORT & Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of UBS Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $349,000. Caprock Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of UBS Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $233,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of UBS Group by 26.1% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,848 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 589 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WASHINGTON TRUST Co bought a new stake in shares of UBS Group during the 3rd quarter valued at $48,000.

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.