Generali Asset Management SPA SGR Makes New $19.03 Million Investment in UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS)

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new position in shares of UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 686,132 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $19,026,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in shares of UBS Group by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 16,302 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $531,000 after purchasing an additional 527 shares during the period. PDS Planning Inc raised its position in shares of UBS Group by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 17,556 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $532,000 after purchasing an additional 1,101 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in shares of UBS Group by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 78,725 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,387,000 after purchasing an additional 4,178 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of UBS Group by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 19,129 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $580,000 after purchasing an additional 2,305 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV raised its position in shares of UBS Group by 19.1% in the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 3,120 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period.

UBS Group Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE UBS opened at $33.45 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $32.06. The firm has a market cap of $107.24 billion, a PE ratio of 22.00 and a beta of 1.15. UBS Group AG has a 1 year low of $26.01 and a 1 year high of $35.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.76, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

UBS Group (NYSE:UBS) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 quarter last year, the business earned ($0.09) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that UBS Group AG will post 1.9 EPS for the current year.

UBS Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared an annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 16th will be given a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 16th. This represents a yield of 2.1%. This is an increase from UBS Group’s previous annual dividend of $0.23. UBS Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on UBS. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of UBS Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of UBS Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of UBS Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Kepler Capital Markets upgraded shares of UBS Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of UBS Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold”.

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.