UBS Group (NYSE:UBS) Sees Large Volume Increase – Still a Buy?

Shares of UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Tuesday . Approximately 2,444,778 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 17% from the previous session’s volume of 2,095,099 shares.The stock last traded at $32.62 and had previously closed at $34.38.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of UBS Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of UBS Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report 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 note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded UBS Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, UBS Group presently has an average rating of “Hold”.

UBS Group Trading Down 2.2 %

The business’s 50 day moving average price is $33.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.92. The company has a market cap of $107.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.27 and a beta of 1.16. 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 (NYSE:UBS) last posted its quarterly 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 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 last year, the company earned ($0.09) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that UBS Group AG will post 1.9 EPS for the current year.

UBS Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced an annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders 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. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 16th. This represents a dividend yield of 2.1%. UBS Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.08%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UBS Group

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of UBS Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $5,594,066,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of UBS Group by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 127,886,868 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,915,512,000 after acquiring an additional 1,296,428 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in shares of UBS Group by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 57,349,524 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,771,713,000 after acquiring an additional 3,289,387 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of UBS Group by 29.4% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 55,533,620 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,695,087,000 after acquiring an additional 12,609,616 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its holdings in shares of UBS Group by 18.9% in 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 acquiring an additional 5,555,624 shares in the last quarter.

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.