Exane Asset Management Acquires 221,123 Shares of UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS)

Exane Asset Management raised its holdings in shares of UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS) by 21.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,241,028 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 221,123 shares during the quarter. UBS Group makes up 19.8% of Exane Asset Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Exane Asset Management’s holdings in UBS Group were worth $35,633,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of UBS Group by 226.8% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 27,928 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $825,000 after acquiring an additional 19,382 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in UBS Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $724,000. Wedmont Private Capital grew its holdings in shares of UBS Group by 10.6% during the third quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 9,173 shares of the bank’s stock worth $287,000 after buying an additional 879 shares in the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of UBS Group by 2.8% in the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 29,893 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $924,000 after buying an additional 810 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its position in shares of UBS Group by 14.4% in the third quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 177,436 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,485,000 after buying an additional 22,363 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of UBS Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research 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, BNP Paribas upgraded UBS Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

UBS Group Stock Performance

Shares of UBS stock opened at $33.43 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.76, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $107.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.99 and a beta of 1.16. UBS Group AG has a one year low of $26.00 and a one year high of $35.84. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $32.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.39.

UBS Group (NYSE:UBS) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $11.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.09) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that UBS Group AG will post 1.95 EPS for the current year.

UBS Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 16th will be paid a $0.90 dividend. This is a positive change from UBS Group’s previous annual dividend of $0.23. This represents a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 16th. UBS Group’s payout ratio is currently 15.13%.

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.