Joseph Hartz Sells 15,000 Shares of UGI (NYSE:UGI) Stock

UGI Corporation (NYSE:UGI) insider Joseph Hartz sold 15,000 shares of UGI stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.68, for a total value of $580,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 33,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,295,470.56. This represents a 30.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

UGI Trading Up 1.3%

UGI opened at $39.55 on Friday. UGI Corporation has a 1-year low of $26.73 and a 1-year high of $39.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.48 billion, a PE ratio of 20.82 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $33.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $34.94.

UGI (NYSE:UGI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 21st. The utilities provider reported ($0.23) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by $0.21. UGI had a net margin of 5.70% and a return on equity of 15.73%. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($1.27) earnings per share. UGI’s revenue was down 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that UGI Corporation will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UGI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be given a dividend of $0.375 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. UGI’s payout ratio is presently 48.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on UGI. Zacks Research raised UGI to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of UGI in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of UGI in a report on Friday. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of UGI from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, UGI currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UGI

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of UGI by 2.9% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,120,082 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $136,251,000 after purchasing an additional 117,663 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management raised its stake in UGI by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 4,037,604 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $133,524,000 after buying an additional 251,311 shares during the period. Neuberger Berman Group LLC grew its stake in UGI by 91.5% in the first quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 2,987,818 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $98,807,000 after acquiring an additional 1,427,553 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its stake in UGI by 11.2% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 2,863,933 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $95,254,000 after acquiring an additional 287,764 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of UGI by 11.8% in the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,644,716 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $87,472,000 after acquiring an additional 278,616 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.34% of the company’s stock.

About UGI

UGI Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, distributes, stores, transports, and markets energy products and related services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through four segments: AmeriGas Propane, UGI International, Midstream & Marketing, and UGI Utilities. It distributes propane to approximately 1.3 million residential, commercial/industrial, motor fuel, agricultural, and wholesale customers through 1,400 propane distribution locations.