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

Shares of UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company.

UBS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered UBS Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Kepler Capital Markets raised UBS Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. BNP Paribas raised UBS Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised UBS Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered UBS Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UBS Group

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of UBS Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $5,594,066,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of UBS Group by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 127,886,868 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,915,512,000 after buying an additional 1,296,428 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in shares of UBS Group by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 57,349,524 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,771,713,000 after buying an additional 3,289,387 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $1,695,087,000 after buying an additional 12,609,616 shares during the period. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its holdings 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 valued at $1,070,335,000 after buying an additional 5,555,624 shares during the period.

UBS Group Stock Up 3.2 %

Shares of NYSE:UBS opened at $34.15 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $33.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.76. UBS Group has a 12-month low of $26.01 and a 12-month high of $35.84. The firm has a market cap of $109.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.46 and a beta of 1.15.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by ($0.08). UBS Group had a return on equity of 5.93% and a net margin of 6.93%. 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 previous year, the business posted ($0.09) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that UBS Group will post 1.9 EPS for the current year.

UBS Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced an annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors 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 is Wednesday, April 16th. UBS Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.08%.

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.