LGT Group Foundation Raises Stake in UBS Group AG $UBS

LGT Group Foundation increased its holdings in shares of UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS) by 10.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,244,463 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 303,120 shares during the quarter. UBS Group accounts for about 1.5% of LGT Group Foundation’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. LGT Group Foundation owned approximately 0.10% of UBS Group worth $131,382,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of UBS. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its stake in shares of UBS Group by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 2,742,259 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $112,048,000 after acquiring an additional 97,509 shares during the period. Lingohr Asset Management GmbH boosted its position in UBS Group by 1,198.4% during the 3rd quarter. Lingohr Asset Management GmbH now owns 258,115 shares of the bank’s stock worth $10,559,000 after purchasing an additional 238,235 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its position in UBS Group by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 4,439,632 shares of the bank’s stock worth $181,409,000 after purchasing an additional 265,475 shares during the period. Permanent Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in UBS Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,842,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in UBS Group by 21.0% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 77,353,590 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,171,497,000 after purchasing an additional 13,417,945 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on UBS. Bank of America upgraded UBS Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $44.00 to $60.30 in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of UBS Group in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of UBS Group in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of UBS Group in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of UBS Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.30.

UBS Group Stock Performance

NYSE:UBS opened at $38.45 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $44.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.63, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The stock has a market cap of $120.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.29, a PEG ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 1.14. UBS Group AG has a 1-year low of $25.75 and a 1-year high of $49.36.

UBS Group (NYSE:UBS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The bank reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.12. UBS Group had a return on equity of 8.68% and a net margin of 10.88%.The business had revenue of $12.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.88 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.23 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that UBS Group AG will post 1.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UBS Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a special dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 22nd. UBS Group’s payout ratio is currently 14.83%.

UBS Group Profile

UBS Group AG is a Swiss multinational financial services firm that provides a broad range of banking and capital markets services to private, institutional and corporate clients. Headquartered in Zurich, UBS operates as a universal bank with a primary focus on wealth management, asset management, investment banking and retail and commercial banking in Switzerland. The firm serves high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth individuals, pension funds, corporations and institutional investors through a global network of offices.

Key business activities include global wealth management—offering financial planning, investment advisory, discretionary portfolio management and custody services—alongside asset management products for institutional and retail investors.