Levin Capital Strategies L.P. Buys 78,067 Shares of UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS)

Levin Capital Strategies L.P. increased its position in shares of UBS Group AG (NYSE:UBS) by 7.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,155,312 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 78,067 shares during the quarter. UBS Group comprises approximately 3.9% of Levin Capital Strategies L.P.’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Levin Capital Strategies L.P.’s holdings in UBS Group were worth $35,699,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UBS Group during the third quarter worth approximately $128,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of UBS Group by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 36,605 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $902,000 after buying an additional 3,543 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in shares of UBS Group by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 963,707 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $23,755,000 after buying an additional 41,051 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in UBS Group by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 29,786 shares of the bank’s stock worth $734,000 after purchasing an additional 2,055 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in UBS Group by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 7,021,393 shares of the bank’s stock worth $173,077,000 after purchasing an additional 103,803 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on UBS shares. Morgan Stanley upgraded UBS Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 8th. Societe Generale raised UBS Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. BNP Paribas lowered UBS Group from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Citigroup downgraded UBS Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold”.

UBS Group Price Performance

UBS traded up $0.55 on Thursday, hitting $26.74. 2,930,307 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,878,452. UBS Group AG has a 12 month low of $18.71 and a 12 month high of $32.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.23, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.10. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $29.59 and its 200-day moving average is $28.35.

UBS Group (NYSE:UBS) last released 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). The company had revenue of $10.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.06 billion. UBS Group had a return on equity of 7.56% and a net margin of 43.70%. The business’s revenue was up 35.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.50 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that UBS Group AG will post 0.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UBS Group Increases Dividend

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

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.