Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Buys New Shares in UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS)

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC purchased a new position in UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 5,020 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $155,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of UBS. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its stake in UBS Group by 6.1% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 24,726 shares of the bank’s stock worth $483,000 after purchasing an additional 1,412 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in shares of UBS Group by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 2,465,156 shares of the bank’s stock worth $48,169,000 after buying an additional 142,328 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of UBS Group by 11.7% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,348,771 shares of the bank’s stock worth $84,975,000 after buying an additional 453,906 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in UBS Group by 136.0% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 293,491 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,716,000 after acquiring an additional 169,106 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in UBS Group by 39.3% during the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 15,826 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $309,000 after acquiring an additional 4,466 shares during the period.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on UBS shares. Morgan Stanley raised 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 report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of UBS Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

UBS Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:UBS opened at $28.06 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $29.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $28.22. UBS Group AG has a 52-week low of $18.71 and a 52-week high of $32.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.23.

UBS Group (NYSE:UBS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The bank reported ($0.09) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.18). UBS Group had a net margin of 43.70% and a return on equity of 7.56%. The firm had revenue of $10.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.50 earnings per share. UBS Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that UBS Group AG will post 1.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UBS Group Increases Dividend

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

About UBS Group

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.