UBS Group (NYSE:UBS) Cut to "Equal Weight" at Morgan Stanley

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

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on UBS. StockNews.com cut shares of UBS Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of UBS Group from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Kepler Capital Markets upgraded shares of UBS Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded UBS Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold".

UBS Group Trading Up 0.0 %

UBS Group stock traded up $0.01 during trading on Thursday, hitting $33.48. The company had a trading volume of 1,388,757 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,055,439. The stock has a market cap of $107.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.02 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.76. UBS Group has a 1-year low of $26.00 and a 1-year high of $35.84. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $32.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.72.

UBS Group (NYSE:UBS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). UBS Group had a net margin of 6.93% and a return on equity of 5.93%. The firm had revenue of $11.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.09) EPS. UBS Group's quarterly revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that UBS Group 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. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 16th will be issued a $0.90 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.13%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UBS Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of UBS. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in UBS Group during the 4th quarter worth about $5,594,066,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of UBS Group by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 127,886,868 shares of the bank's stock worth $3,915,512,000 after acquiring an additional 1,296,428 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in UBS Group by 6.1% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 57,349,524 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,771,713,000 after purchasing an additional 3,289,387 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in UBS Group by 29.4% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 55,533,620 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,695,087,000 after purchasing an additional 12,609,616 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its holdings in UBS Group by 18.9% in the fourth 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 in 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.