UBS Group (NYSE:UBS) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $33.21, but opened at $32.01. UBS Group shares last traded at $31.99, with a volume of 808,420 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of UBS Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. BNP Paribas upgraded UBS Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Kepler Capital Markets upgraded shares of UBS Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com lowered shares of UBS Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of UBS Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold”.

UBS Group Price Performance

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.21. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $102.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.08 and a beta of 1.15.

UBS Group (NYSE:UBS) last released its 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 analyst estimates of $10.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.09) EPS. UBS Group’s revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that UBS Group AG will post 1.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UBS Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.90 per share. This is a positive change from UBS Group’s previous annual dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 16th. This represents a yield of 2.1%. UBS Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.47%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UBS Group

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of UBS. Berbice Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of UBS Group in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of UBS Group in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UBS Group during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new position in shares of UBS Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of UBS Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000.

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.