UBS Group (NYSE:UBS) Sees Strong Trading Volume – What’s Next?

Shares of UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS) saw unusually-high trading volume on Tuesday . Approximately 12,216,733 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 494% from the previous session’s volume of 2,055,685 shares.The stock last traded at $33.86 and had previously closed at $33.47.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on UBS. BNP Paribas upgraded 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. Kepler Capital Markets raised UBS Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of UBS Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut shares of UBS Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

UBS Group Stock Up 1.2 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.76, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The stock has a market cap of $108.55 billion, a PE ratio of 22.27 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $32.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.76.

UBS Group (NYSE:UBS) last posted its 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 company had revenue of $11.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.09) EPS. UBS Group’s revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that UBS Group AG 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. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.90 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 16th. This is a positive change from UBS Group’s previous annual dividend of $0.23. This represents a yield of 2.1%. UBS Group’s payout ratio is currently 19.08%.

Institutional Trading of UBS Group

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of UBS Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $5,594,066,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of UBS Group by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 127,886,868 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,915,512,000 after buying an additional 1,296,428 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in UBS Group by 6.1% during the third 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 increased its holdings in UBS Group by 29.4% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its position in UBS Group by 18.9% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 34,979,795 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,070,335,000 after acquiring an additional 5,555,624 shares during the period.

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.