UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the six brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company.

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

UBS Group Stock Down 3.9 %

NYSE UBS opened at $31.92 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.76. The company has a market cap of $102.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.00 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a 50 day moving average of $33.71 and a 200-day moving average of $32.21. UBS Group has a 1-year low of $26.01 and a 1-year high of $35.84.

UBS Group (NYSE:UBS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The bank reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.31 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $11.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.90 billion. UBS Group had a net margin of 6.93% and a return on equity of 5.93%. UBS Group’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.09) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that UBS Group will post 1.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UBS Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared an annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 2.1%. This is a positive change from UBS Group’s previous annual dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 16th. UBS Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.47%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in UBS. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in UBS Group by 44.9% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 15,775 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $488,000 after acquiring an additional 4,889 shares during the period. Commerce Bank increased its holdings in UBS Group by 3.9% in the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 9,278 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $287,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in UBS Group by 17.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 220,042 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,801,000 after purchasing an additional 33,089 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in UBS Group by 45.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 128,980 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,987,000 after buying an additional 40,485 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of UBS Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $23,884,000.

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.