UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS) saw a significant growth in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 12,370,000 shares, a growth of 52.5% from the February 13th total of 8,110,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,000,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.1 days. Approximately 0.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Institutional Trading of UBS Group

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of UBS. Norges Bank bought a new stake in UBS Group during the fourth quarter valued at $5,594,066,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its position in UBS Group by 162.6% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 28,307,335 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $858,359,000 after acquiring an additional 17,525,749 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in UBS Group by 29.4% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 55,533,620 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,695,087,000 after acquiring an additional 12,609,616 shares during the last quarter. Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations bought a new stake in UBS Group during the fourth quarter valued at $233,591,000. Finally, SIH Partners LLLP bought a new position in shares of UBS Group during the 4th quarter worth about $214,546,000.

UBS Group Trading Up 3.4 %

Shares of UBS Group stock traded up $1.08 during trading on Friday, hitting $32.79. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,312,510 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,165,858. 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 has a 52 week low of $26.01 and a 52 week high of $35.84. The stock has a market cap of $105.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.57 and a beta of 1.15. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $33.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $32.04.

UBS Group (NYSE:UBS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The bank reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.31 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $11.06 billion during 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.09) EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that UBS Group will post 1.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UBS Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared an annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 16th will be given a dividend of $0.90 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 16th. This represents a yield of 2.1%. This is a boost from UBS Group’s previous annual dividend of $0.23. UBS Group’s dividend payout ratio is 19.08%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of UBS Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of UBS Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of UBS Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of UBS Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Kepler Capital Markets upgraded shares of UBS Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, UBS Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

About UBS Group

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.