Proficio Capital Partners LLC Takes Position in UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 13,068 shares of the bank’s stock, valued at approximately $396,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in UBS Group by 44.9% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 15,775 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $488,000 after acquiring an additional 4,889 shares in the last quarter. Commerce Bank raised its stake in shares of UBS Group by 3.9% during the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 9,278 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $287,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in UBS Group by 11.3% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 31,596 shares of the bank’s stock worth $977,000 after purchasing an additional 3,208 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in UBS Group by 17.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 220,042 shares of the bank’s stock worth $6,801,000 after purchasing an additional 33,089 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in UBS Group by 45.7% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 128,980 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,987,000 after buying an additional 40,485 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

UBS Group Stock Up 2.2 %

UBS stock opened at $33.67 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $107.96 billion, a PE ratio of 22.15 and a beta of 1.15. UBS Group AG has a 12 month low of $26.01 and a 12 month high of $35.84. 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 50 day simple moving average of $33.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $32.21.

UBS Group (NYSE:UBS) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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). 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%. UBS Group’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.09) EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that UBS Group AG will post 1.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UBS Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced an annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.90 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 2.1%. This is an increase from UBS Group’s previous annual dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 16th. UBS Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.47%.

UBS Group 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.