UGI Co. (NYSE:UGI) Receives Average Rating of “Reduce” from Brokerages

Shares of UGI Co. (NYSE:UGI – Get Rating) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the six brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $39.50.

UGI has been the topic of several recent research reports. TheStreet downgraded UGI from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Friday, March 10th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on UGI in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Barclays reduced their price objective on UGI from $40.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 18th. Finally, Mizuho initiated coverage on UGI in a research report on Wednesday, April 26th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 price objective on the stock.

UGI Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UGI opened at $28.03 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. UGI has a twelve month low of $27.23 and a twelve month high of $44.54. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $33.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $36.52. The stock has a market cap of $5.87 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.08.

UGI (NYSE:UGI – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 3rd. The utilities provider reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $3.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. UGI had a negative net margin of 6.17% and a positive return on equity of 11.38%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.91 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that UGI will post 2.8 earnings per share for the current year.

UGI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.35%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 14th. This is a positive change from UGI’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. UGI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -49.15%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UGI

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of UGI. BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in UGI by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 35,154,665 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,221,976,000 after buying an additional 1,150,654 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in UGI by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,130,520 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $780,140,000 after buying an additional 1,141,345 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in UGI by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,424,002 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $527,249,000 after buying an additional 522,707 shares during the last quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in UGI by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 8,669,087 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $321,363,000 after buying an additional 197,906 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in UGI during the 4th quarter worth approximately $203,745,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

About UGI

(Get Rating)

UGI Corp. is a holding company, which engages in the distribution and marketing of energy products and services. It operates through the following segments: AmeriGas Propane, UGI International, Midstream and Marketing, and Utilities. The AmeriGas Propane segment consists of the propane distribution business of AmeriGas Partners, L.P.