Smartleaf Asset Management LLC Purchases 6,269 Shares of UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS)

Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS) by 184.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 9,672 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,269 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC’s holdings in UBS Group were worth $296,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in UBS Group by 6.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 3,289,387 shares during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in UBS Group by 2.8% during the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 30,802,466 shares of the bank’s stock worth $952,104,000 after buying an additional 851,231 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of UBS Group by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 16,445,068 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $502,398,000 after buying an additional 301,394 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of UBS Group by 20.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,708,623 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $423,504,000 after buying an additional 2,307,033 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ARGA Investment Management LP grew its holdings in shares of UBS Group by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 7,338,038 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $224,259,000 after buying an additional 445,876 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on UBS. BNP Paribas raised shares of UBS Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report 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 lowered UBS Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded 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 assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, UBS Group currently has an average rating of “Hold”.

UBS Group Price Performance

UBS Group stock opened at $33.32 on Wednesday. UBS Group AG has a 52 week low of $26.01 and a 52 week high of $35.84. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $33.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.94. The stock has a market cap of $106.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.92 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.76.

UBS Group (NYSE:UBS) last issued its quarterly 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 5.93% and a net margin of 6.93%. The business had revenue of $11.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.09) earnings per share. The business’s 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 earnings per share for the current year.

UBS Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 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 payout ratio is 19.08%.

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.