UGI (NYSE:UGI) Stock Price Crosses Above 200 Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

UGI Corporation (NYSE:UGI) passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $36.06 and traded as high as $36.80. UGI shares last traded at $36.7330, with a volume of 2,051,682 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of UGI in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. UBS Group reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of UGI in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Weiss Ratings upgraded UGI from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Wall Street Zen downgraded UGI from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 22nd. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on UGI from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.50.

UGI Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $7.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.55 and a beta of 1.08. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $38.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.78.

UGI (NYSE:UGI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.50 by ($0.24). The company had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.49 billion. UGI had a net margin of 8.17% and a return on equity of 14.46%. The business’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.37 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that UGI Corporation will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UGI Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be issued a $0.375 dividend. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. UGI’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling at UGI

In related news, insider Joseph L. Hartz sold 5,000 shares of UGI stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.45, for a total value of $192,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 33,492 shares in the company, valued at $1,287,767.40. The trade was a 12.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Jean Felix Tematio sold 12,840 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.07, for a total transaction of $488,818.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 6,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $264,662.64. This trade represents a 64.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UGI. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings in shares of UGI by 34,940.4% in the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 2,576,169 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $93,824,000 after buying an additional 2,568,817 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its holdings in shares of UGI by 170.3% during the second quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 2,470,299 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $89,968,000 after buying an additional 1,556,273 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of UGI by 385.0% during the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 164,791 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,002,000 after buying an additional 130,811 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of UGI by 14.3% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 930,787 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,781,000 after acquiring an additional 116,372 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in UGI by 17.2% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 785,327 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,971,000 after acquiring an additional 115,409 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.34% of the company’s stock.

About UGI

UGI Corporation (NYSE: UGI) is a publicly traded energy distribution company headquartered in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1882 as the United Gas Improvement Company, UGI has grown into a diversified provider of energy products and services. The company’s operations are organized into three primary segments—AmeriGas Propane, UGI Utilities and UGI International—each focused on the delivery of propane, natural gas and related services to residential, commercial and industrial customers.

AmeriGas Propane, UGI’s largest segment, is the leading retail propane distributor in the United States with a network of dealers serving customers in all 50 states.