UBS Group (NYSE:UBS) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS) gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $33.85, but opened at $32.87. UBS Group shares last traded at $32.98, with a volume of 371,163 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UBS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Kepler Capital Markets upgraded UBS Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. 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 research note on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley lowered UBS Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered UBS Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

UBS Group Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.76, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $32.10. The stock has a market cap of $105.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.72 and a beta of 1.15.

UBS Group (NYSE:UBS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The bank reported $0.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.31 by ($0.08). The firm 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.09) EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that UBS Group AG will post 1.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UBS Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 16th will be issued a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 16th. This represents a dividend yield of 2.1%. This is an increase from UBS Group’s previous annual dividend of $0.23. UBS Group’s payout ratio is currently 19.08%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of UBS Group in the fourth quarter worth about $5,594,066,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of UBS Group by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 127,886,868 shares of the bank’s stock worth $3,915,512,000 after buying an additional 1,296,428 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in shares of UBS Group by 6.1% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 57,349,524 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,771,713,000 after buying an additional 3,289,387 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in UBS Group by 29.4% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 55,533,620 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,695,087,000 after purchasing an additional 12,609,616 shares during the period. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its holdings in UBS Group by 18.9% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 34,979,795 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,070,335,000 after purchasing an additional 5,555,624 shares during the period.

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.