Raymond James Financial Inc. Makes New $31.45 Million Investment in UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 1,037,237 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $31,449,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of UBS. Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new position in UBS Group in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of UBS Group in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in UBS Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Versant Capital Management Inc purchased a new stake in UBS Group during the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in UBS Group in the fourth quarter worth about $41,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on UBS shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of UBS Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. BNP Paribas raised UBS Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Bank of America lowered UBS Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley downgraded UBS Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Kepler Capital Markets upgraded UBS Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

UBS Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UBS opened at $27.81 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $31.75 and a 200-day moving average of $32.04. The stock has a market cap of $89.17 billion, a PE ratio of 18.30 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.76, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.06. UBS Group AG has a fifty-two week low of $25.75 and a fifty-two week high of $35.84.

UBS Group (NYSE:UBS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The bank reported $0.23 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.09) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that UBS Group AG will post 1.9 earnings per share for the current year.

UBS Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced an annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 16th will be paid a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 16th. This is a boost from UBS Group’s previous annual dividend of $0.23. This represents a yield of 2.1%. UBS Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.47%.

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.