First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Buys 7,193 Shares of UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its stake in UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS) by 12.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 65,429 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,193 shares during the quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in UBS Group were worth $2,022,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in UBS Group by 42.3% in the 4th quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,746 shares of the bank’s stock worth $116,000 after acquiring an additional 1,113 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of UBS Group by 114.1% during the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 98,830 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,054,000 after purchasing an additional 52,668 shares in the last quarter. Syon Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of UBS Group by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 49,175 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $1,520,000 after purchasing an additional 3,500 shares in the last quarter. Channing Global Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of UBS Group by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Channing Global Advisors LLC now owns 555,432 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $17,221,000 after purchasing an additional 20,098 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd boosted its stake in UBS Group by 50.9% in the fourth quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 2,819 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $87,000 after acquiring an additional 951 shares in the last quarter.

UBS Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE UBS traded up $0.39 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $26.58. The company had a trading volume of 1,029,213 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,852,278. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $29.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.35. UBS Group AG has a 1 year low of $18.71 and a 1 year high of $32.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.23.

UBS Group (NYSE:UBS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The bank reported ($0.09) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.18). UBS Group had a return on equity of 7.56% and a net margin of 43.70%. The business had revenue of $10.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.06 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.50 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that UBS Group AG will post 0.78 earnings per share for the current year.

UBS Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 2nd will be issued a $0.228 dividend. This is a boost from UBS Group’s previous annual dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 1st. This represents a yield of 0.82%. UBS Group’s payout ratio is presently 2.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on UBS shares. Societe Generale upgraded shares of UBS Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Citigroup downgraded shares of UBS Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley raised shares of UBS Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 8th. Finally, BNP Paribas cut shares of UBS Group from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. 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.com, the company presently has an average 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.