Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. Increases Position in UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS)

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. raised its position in UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS) by 98.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,278 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,040 shares during the period. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in UBS Group were worth $615,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of UBS. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in shares of UBS Group by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 57,349,524 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,771,713,000 after purchasing an additional 3,289,387 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of UBS Group by 422.4% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 4,036,921 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $122,399,000 after buying an additional 3,264,214 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of UBS Group by 20.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,708,623 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $423,504,000 after buying an additional 2,307,033 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in shares of UBS Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $69,440,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of UBS Group in the 4th quarter valued at $31,449,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

UBS Group Trading Up 3.2 %

Shares of UBS Group stock opened at $34.15 on Friday. UBS Group AG has a 1 year low of $26.01 and a 1 year high of $35.84. 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 company has a market capitalization of $109.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.46 and a beta of 1.15. The company’s fifty day moving average is $33.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.00.

UBS Group (NYSE:UBS) last issued 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 period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.09) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that UBS Group AG will post 1.9 earnings per share for the current year.

UBS Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 represents a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 16th. This is a boost from UBS Group’s previous annual dividend of $0.23. UBS Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.08%.

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.