UBS Group (NYSE:UBS) Downgraded to Equal Weight Rating by Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley lowered shares of UBS Group (NYSE:UBS) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research report report published on Thursday morning, Marketbeat reports.

UBS has been the subject of several other reports. StockNews.com downgraded UBS Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. BNP Paribas raised UBS Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised UBS Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Kepler Capital Markets raised UBS Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, UBS Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

UBS Group Stock Performance

Shares of UBS opened at $33.55 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market cap of $107.56 billion, a PE ratio of 22.07 and a beta of 1.16. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $32.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.64. UBS Group has a 12-month low of $26.00 and a 12-month high of $35.84.

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 business had revenue of $11.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.90 billion. UBS Group had a return on equity of 5.93% and a net margin of 6.93%. The business’s revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.09) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that UBS Group will post 1.9 EPS for the current year.

UBS Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced an annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 16th will be issued a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 15.13%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UBS Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of UBS. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in UBS Group by 11.6% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 234,010 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $7,233,000 after acquiring an additional 24,338 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in UBS Group by 1.2% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,014,965 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $31,373,000 after acquiring an additional 12,380 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in UBS Group by 6,907.6% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 37,841 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,169,000 after acquiring an additional 37,301 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. raised its stake in shares of UBS Group by 17.3% during the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 10,152 shares of the bank’s stock worth $314,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in shares of UBS Group by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 34,962 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,081,000 after buying an additional 817 shares during 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.