UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company.

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on UBS shares. StockNews.com cut UBS Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. BNP Paribas raised UBS Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Kepler Capital Markets raised UBS Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its holdings in UBS Group by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 206,803 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,270,000 after acquiring an additional 29,367 shares during the period. M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. bought a new position in UBS Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $354,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its holdings in UBS Group by 21.7% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 37,205 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,128,000 after acquiring an additional 6,638 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in UBS Group by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 106,019 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,277,000 after acquiring an additional 1,114 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in UBS Group by 17.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 220,042 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $6,801,000 after acquiring an additional 33,089 shares during the period.

UBS Group Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE UBS opened at $32.64 on Thursday. UBS Group has a 12 month low of $26.00 and a 12 month high of $35.84. The stock has a market cap of $104.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.20 and a beta of 1.16. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $32.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.87.

UBS Group (NYSE:UBS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The bank reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by ($0.08). UBS Group had a return on equity of 4.69% and a net margin of 5.13%. The company had revenue of $11.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.09) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that UBS Group will post 1.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UBS Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared an annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.90 per share. This is an increase from UBS Group’s previous annual dividend of $0.23. This represents a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 16th. UBS Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.17%.

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.