UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS) Short Interest Update

UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,110,000 shares, an increase of 38.6% from the January 31st total of 5,850,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,000,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.1 days. Approximately 0.3% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Institutional Trading of UBS Group

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UBS. Brucke Financial Inc. purchased a new position in UBS Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $617,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of UBS Group by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,778,047 shares of the bank’s stock worth $53,910,000 after buying an additional 14,817 shares in the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP raised its stake in UBS Group by 20.8% during the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 68,105 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,065,000 after purchasing an additional 11,749 shares in the last quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. raised its stake in UBS Group by 16.5% during the fourth quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 54,234 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,644,000 after purchasing an additional 7,690 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Trust Co. N.A. raised its stake in UBS Group by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 108,000 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,275,000 after purchasing an additional 3,583 shares in the last quarter.

UBS Group Stock Up 1.9 %

NYSE UBS traded up $0.64 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $33.96. 3,147,098 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,119,030. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.76, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The firm has a market cap of $108.90 billion, a PE ratio of 22.34 and a beta of 1.16. UBS Group has a 52-week low of $26.01 and a 52-week high of $35.84. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.94.

UBS Group (NYSE:UBS) last announced 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). UBS Group had a return on equity of 5.93% and a net margin of 6.93%. The company had revenue of $11.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.09) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that UBS Group 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. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 16th will be paid a $0.90 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 16th. This is a positive change from UBS Group’s previous annual dividend of $0.23. This represents a dividend yield of 2.1%. UBS Group’s payout ratio is currently 19.08%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Kepler Capital Markets raised shares of UBS Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of UBS Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. 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 raised shares of UBS Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut shares of UBS Group from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

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.