LGT Group Foundation Sells 1,326,268 Shares of UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS)

LGT Group Foundation reduced its position in UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS) by 30.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,034,355 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 1,326,268 shares during the quarter. UBS Group comprises about 1.4% of LGT Group Foundation’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. LGT Group Foundation’s holdings in UBS Group were worth $92,700,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of UBS. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in UBS Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,198,000. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. increased its holdings in UBS Group by 35.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 13,123 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $406,000 after buying an additional 3,400 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in UBS Group by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 94,164 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,911,000 after buying an additional 2,776 shares during the period. M&G PLC increased its holdings in UBS Group by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. M&G PLC now owns 4,507,947 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $138,593,000 after buying an additional 135,766 shares during the period. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp increased its holdings in UBS Group by 81.4% in the 3rd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 111,500 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,446,000 after buying an additional 50,041 shares during the period.

UBS Group Trading Up 1.3 %

UBS opened at $34.28 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $33.13 and its 200-day moving average is $31.89. UBS Group AG has a 1-year low of $26.00 and a 1-year high of $35.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.76. The company has a market cap of $109.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.55 and a beta of 1.16.

UBS Group (NYSE:UBS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The bank reported $0.23 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.09) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that UBS Group AG will post 1.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UBS Group Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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