UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the six ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on UBS shares. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of UBS Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of UBS Group from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of UBS Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Kepler Capital Markets upgraded UBS Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded UBS Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th.

UBS Group Price Performance

Shares of UBS Group stock opened at $29.82 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $31.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $95.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.62 and a beta of 1.16. UBS Group has a 1-year low of $25.75 and a 1-year high of $35.84.

UBS Group (NYSE:UBS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The bank reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $11.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.09) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that UBS Group will post 1.9 earnings per share for the current year.

UBS Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared an annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 16th were paid a dividend of $0.90 per share. This is a boost from UBS Group’s previous annual dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 16th. This represents a yield of 2.1%. UBS Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.47%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UBS Group

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in UBS Group in the fourth quarter valued at $5,594,066,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of UBS Group by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 127,886,868 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,915,512,000 after purchasing an additional 1,296,428 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of UBS Group by 29.4% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 55,533,620 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,695,087,000 after purchasing an additional 12,609,616 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its position in shares of UBS Group by 18.9% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 34,979,795 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,070,335,000 after purchasing an additional 5,555,624 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its holdings in UBS Group by 162.6% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 28,307,335 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $858,359,000 after purchasing an additional 17,525,749 shares during the last quarter.

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.