Zacks Research Upgrades UBS Group (NYSE:UBS) to Strong-Buy

UBS Group (NYSE:UBS) was upgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of UBS Group in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of UBS Group in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Barclays upgraded UBS Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Weiss Ratings lowered UBS Group from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut UBS Group from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Friday, June 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $60.30.

UBS Group Trading Up 3.6%

Shares of UBS Group stock opened at $53.80 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $48.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $44.86. The stock has a market cap of $168.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.28, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.19. UBS Group has a 12-month low of $35.40 and a 12-month high of $54.31.

UBS Group (NYSE:UBS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The bank reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.09. UBS Group had a net margin of 12.66% and a return on equity of 10.05%. The firm had revenue of $13.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.16 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that UBS Group will post 3.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of UBS Group

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in UBS Group during the fourth quarter worth $4,889,413,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of UBS Group by 6,277.5% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 16,536,418 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $821,228,000 after acquiring an additional 16,277,125 shares in the last quarter. Viking Global Investors LP boosted its stake in shares of UBS Group by 407.5% during the third quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 13,096,560 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $534,852,000 after acquiring an additional 10,516,148 shares during the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of UBS Group during the fourth quarter valued at $411,917,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in UBS Group by 253.3% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,861,746 shares of the bank’s stock worth $320,074,000 after purchasing an additional 4,919,494 shares in the last quarter.

UBS Group Company 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.