UBS Group (NYSE:UBS) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS) gapped down prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $33.21, but opened at $32.01. UBS Group shares last traded at $31.99, with a volume of 808,420 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UBS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America lowered shares of UBS Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com cut UBS Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. 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 shares of UBS Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised UBS Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold”.

UBS Group Stock Down 1.1 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.76, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.06. The firm has a market cap of $101.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.76 and a beta of 1.15. The business’s 50-day moving average is $33.66 and its 200-day moving average is $32.23.

UBS Group (NYSE:UBS) last released 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 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 the consensus estimate of $10.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.09) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that UBS Group AG will post 1.9 EPS for the current year.

UBS Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 16th will be issued a $0.90 dividend. This is a positive change from UBS Group’s previous annual dividend of $0.23. This represents a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 16th. UBS Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.47%.

Institutional Trading of UBS Group

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of UBS. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of UBS Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,594,066,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in UBS Group by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 127,886,868 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,915,512,000 after purchasing an additional 1,296,428 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in UBS Group by 29.4% in 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 last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 5,555,624 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its position 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 worth $858,359,000 after buying an additional 17,525,749 shares in the last quarter.

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.