Norges Bank Buys New Position in UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS)

Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 183,111,351 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $5,594,066,000. UBS Group comprises approximately 0.7% of Norges Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Norges Bank owned 5.71% of UBS Group at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Berbice Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of UBS Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in UBS Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Versant Capital Management Inc acquired a new position in UBS Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in UBS Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC boosted 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 last quarter.

UBS Group Price Performance

UBS stock opened at $33.22 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $106.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.85 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 AG has a 1 year low of $26.01 and a 1 year high of $35.84. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $32.21.

UBS Group (NYSE:UBS) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $11.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.90 billion. UBS Group had a net margin of 6.93% and a return on equity of 5.93%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.09) EPS. On average, equities 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. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 16th will be given a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 2.1%. 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. UBS Group’s payout ratio is presently 14.47%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded UBS Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. 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. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of UBS Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of UBS Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, UBS Group has an average rating of “Hold”.

UBS Group 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.