Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. Increases Position in UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS)

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS) by 98.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,278 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,040 shares during the period. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in UBS Group were worth $615,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Callan Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UBS Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $785,000. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of UBS Group by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 11,247 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $341,000 after buying an additional 345 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of UBS Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,449,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UBS Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $396,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in shares of UBS Group by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 51,938 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,575,000 after buying an additional 5,974 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

UBS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of UBS Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Kepler Capital Markets upgraded shares of UBS Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com lowered shares of UBS Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of UBS Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered 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 given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

UBS Group Stock Performance

Shares of UBS stock opened at $34.15 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $33.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $32.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.76, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.06. UBS Group AG has a one year low of $26.01 and a one year high of $35.84. The firm has a market cap of $109.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.46 and a beta of 1.15.

UBS Group (NYSE:UBS) last released its 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). The business had revenue of $11.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.90 billion. UBS Group had a return on equity of 5.93% and a net margin of 6.93%. UBS Group’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.09) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that UBS Group AG will post 1.9 EPS for the current year.

UBS Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced an annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 16th will be issued 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 dividend payout ratio is 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.