UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS) Position Increased by Avantax Advisory Services Inc.

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its position in shares of UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS) by 54.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 47,403 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 16,723 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in UBS Group were worth $1,437,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Berbice Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of UBS Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Versant Capital Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of UBS Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of UBS Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Continuum Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of UBS Group by 41.6% in the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 1,532 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of UBS Group by 27.6% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,230 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 482 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

UBS Group Trading Up 1.3 %

NYSE:UBS opened at $33.85 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $33.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $32.08. UBS Group AG has a 52 week low of $26.01 and a 52 week high of $35.84. The company has a market capitalization of $108.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.27 and a beta of 1.15. 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 announced its 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). The company had revenue of $11.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.90 billion. UBS Group had a return on equity of 5.93% and a net margin of 6.93%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.09) EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that UBS Group AG will post 1.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UBS Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced an annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 16th will be given a dividend of $0.90 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 16th. This represents a yield of 2.1%. This is a boost from UBS Group’s previous annual dividend of $0.23. UBS Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.08%.

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.