Citigroup Lowers UBS Group (NYSE:UBS) to Neutral

Citigroup lowered shares of UBS Group (NYSE:UBS) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note released on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. BNP Paribas lowered shares of UBS Group from an outperform rating to a neutral rating in a report on Monday. StockNews.com raised shares of UBS Group from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Friday, December 29th. Societe Generale raised shares of UBS Group from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised UBS Group from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, March 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, UBS Group currently has a consensus rating of Hold.

UBS Group Price Performance

NYSE UBS opened at $28.39 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.23, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.10. UBS Group has a twelve month low of $18.71 and a twelve month high of $32.13. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.27.

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

UBS Group Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of UBS. Norges Bank bought a new stake in UBS Group in the fourth quarter valued at $5,004,151,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in UBS Group by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 113,982,749 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,522,067,000 after buying an additional 7,249,527 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in UBS Group by 37.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 51,432,723 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,271,454,000 after buying an additional 14,104,407 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in UBS Group by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 45,949,099 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,424,902,000 after acquiring an additional 3,840,395 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its stake in UBS Group by 10.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 37,059,828 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,151,033,000 after acquiring an additional 3,523,105 shares during the period.

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.