Aviva PLC Cuts Holdings in UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS)

Aviva PLC lessened its position in shares of UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,954,907 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 177,881 shares during the period. Aviva PLC owned approximately 0.12% of UBS Group worth $120,929,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Berbice Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UBS Group during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new position in UBS Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in UBS Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Versant Capital Management Inc purchased a new stake in UBS Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UBS Group in the fourth quarter worth $41,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on UBS shares. Bank of America cut shares of UBS Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley downgraded UBS Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded UBS Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com lowered UBS Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of UBS Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold”.

UBS Group Stock Down 5.4 %

Shares of UBS Group stock opened at $26.71 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.76, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.05. UBS Group AG has a 1-year low of $26.01 and a 1-year high of $35.84. The business has a 50-day moving average of $33.10 and a 200-day moving average of $32.23. The company has a market capitalization of $85.64 billion, a PE ratio of 17.57 and a beta of 1.16.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.31 by ($0.08). UBS Group had a return on equity of 5.93% and a net margin of 6.93%. The business had revenue of $11.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.09) earnings per share. UBS Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that UBS Group AG will post 1.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UBS Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared an annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors 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 is a boost from UBS Group’s previous annual dividend of $0.23. This represents a yield of 2.1%. UBS Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.47%.

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.