UOB (U11) Guide: Share Prices, Dividends and Market News (2023)

These days, everyone is talking about the UOB One Savings Account or the UOB One credit card. But you know what I wanna talk about? U11.

No, this isn’t some new rock band a la U2. U11.SI (“SI” stands for Singapore) is the stock ticker symbol for United Overseas Bank Limited (UOB) on the Singapore Exchange (SGX). One of Singapore’s major local banks, UOB (U11) by itself holds around 11% of the market value of the Straits Times Index (STI), which comprises 30 blue chip Singapore companies. It’s behind DBS and OCBC, and these 3 Singapore banking giants together make up around 46% of the STI.

On the ground, UOB is everywhere. Our credit cards, our savings accounts and even our brokerages—UOB Group also operates a stockbroker known as UOB Kay Hian. As a major player in Singapore’s banking and investment services sector, UOB offers a full suite of services. Whether you are looking to open a savings account, invest in stocks, buy travel insurance or hire someone to manage your assets, you should be able to find offerings from UOB.

So, thinking of investing in UOB? Here’s an overview of their stock profile.

Disclaimer: This article contains information on UOB stock prices as well as its recent performance trends. It is meant as a guide for readers only, not financial advice. Please practise your own discretion when making investment decisions.

UOB (U11 / UOBH.SI) overview

Sector	Banking and investment services, banks
Year of incorporation	1935
Total Market Cap	46,177.44 million SGD
Historical share price	Above 27 SGD for most of the past year, peaking at 31.33 SGD in Dec 2022.
Current share price	27.630
Current dividend yield	5.77%
Dividend yield 5-year average	4.160%

Note: The figures are accurate at the time of writing (Nov 2023), but due to the nature of this industry, this information changes very frequently. For the latest updates, do check the UOB (U11) SGX listing.

 

UOB (U11) Stock Profile: Share prices, dividends and more

UOB shares are traded on SGX, with a hefty total market capitalisation (number of shares x share price) worth over 33 billion SGD. It is one of the companies tracked by the Straits Times Index, which may be reassuring to some.

Until Covid-19 hit, the past three years were good ones for UOB, with share prices climbing steadily in 2017 before reaching a peak in May 2018. For most of 2019, share prices stayed for the most part above $25. When the pandemic hit, share prices declined, hitting $17.57 in March 2020.

Since then, UOB’s recovered. Share prices have now been over $27 for most of the past 12 months. Around Nov 2022 to Jan 2023, they maintained above $30.

In terms of dividends, UOB has raised their twice-yearly payouts consistently over the past five years and currently boasts a decent dividend yield of 5.77%.

That being said, the company has been quite conservative about the percentage of its profits it pays out as dividends, which is actually a good thing for shareholders, as it gives them a better chance of maintaining their dividend payouts in the downturn.

 

About UOB (U11): Market news and updates

UOB, or United Overseas Bank Limited, was incorporated in 1935 and is one of Singapore’s major local banks, with over 500 offices in 19 countries and banking subsidiaries in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines. The company had 26,872 employees according to its 2019 annual report.

They offer a full suite of financial services similar to what other local banks are offering. These run the gamut from personal, private, commercial, corporate and investment banking services to venture capital management, asset management, insurance and stockbroking.

The company has also diversified its revenue streams by participating in other activities such as property development and hotel operations.

UOB’s biggest shareholder is Wee Investments with a 7.9% shareholding.

Currently, analysts are mixed on UOB’s outlook following its 3QFY2023 results. Their target prices range from $29.70 to $35.90.

In the long term, analysts are generally optimistic about UOB.

Concluding thoughts

While it is technically possible for UOB to fail completely, that isn’t likely. UOB has a diversified portfolio, strong fundamentals and has already announced measures to boost their balance sheet, such as by cutting savings accounts interest rates.

Their biggest exposure is home loans, which is fairly safe as those are secured. This was certainly reassuring for shareholders who tearfully held on to their UOB stocks during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition, UOB has enjoyed consistent and strong dividend growth over the years without going nuts and squeezing out every drop of their profits to pay to shareholders. That gives us assurance that they’ll continue to be able to pay out decent dividends.

 

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