UBS Group (NYSE:UBS) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

Shares of UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS) gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $33.21, but opened at $32.01. UBS Group shares last traded at $31.99, with a volume of 808,420 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on UBS shares. Morgan Stanley cut UBS Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. BNP Paribas raised 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. Bank of America downgraded shares of UBS Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded UBS Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, UBS Group presently has an average rating of “Hold”.

UBS Group Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $101.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.76 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.76. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $32.23.

UBS Group (NYSE:UBS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The bank reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $11.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.90 billion. UBS Group had a net margin of 6.93% and a return on equity of 5.93%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.09) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that UBS Group AG will post 1.9 EPS for the current year.

UBS Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced an annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 16th will be given a $0.90 dividend. This represents a 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 payout ratio is presently 14.47%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of UBS Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,594,066,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in UBS Group by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 127,886,868 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,915,512,000 after purchasing an additional 1,296,428 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 12,609,616 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its position in shares of UBS Group by 18.9% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 34,979,795 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,070,335,000 after acquiring an additional 5,555,624 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its stake in UBS Group by 162.6% during the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 17,525,749 shares during the last quarter.

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.