Brokerages Set Ultrapar Participacoes S.A. (NYSE:UGP) Target Price at $5.50

Ultrapar Participacoes S.A. (NYSE:UGP) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the five ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $5.50.

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Ultrapar Participacoes from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $3.10 to $5.60 in a research note on Friday. Weiss Ratings lowered Ultrapar Participacoes from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen cut Ultrapar Participacoes from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Ultrapar Participacoes from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $5.40 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, February 5th.

Ultrapar Participacoes Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of UGP stock opened at $4.90 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $4.76 and a 200-day moving average of $4.22. The stock has a market cap of $5.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.85. Ultrapar Participacoes has a 52-week low of $2.70 and a 52-week high of $5.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.62.

Ultrapar Participacoes (NYSE:UGP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 4th. The oil and gas company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.07 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $7.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.64 billion. Ultrapar Participacoes had a net margin of 1.72% and a return on equity of 14.11%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ultrapar Participacoes will post 0.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in shares of Ultrapar Participacoes by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 447,618 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,688,000 after purchasing an additional 44,375 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in Ultrapar Participacoes during the 4th quarter valued at about $57,000. Compound Planning Inc. lifted its holdings in Ultrapar Participacoes by 745.3% during the 4th quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 161,337 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $608,000 after purchasing an additional 142,251 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Ultrapar Participacoes by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 255,013 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $961,000 after buying an additional 35,763 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC boosted its position in Ultrapar Participacoes by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 286,333 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,079,000 after buying an additional 11,433 shares in the last quarter. 3.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ultrapar Participacoes Company Profile

Ultrapar Participações SA is a Brazilian diversified holding company operating in the downstream energy and chemical sectors. Its Ipiranga unit runs one of Brazil’s largest networks of fuel stations, supplying gasoline, ethanol, diesel and convenience-store products to retail and wholesale customers. Through Ultragaz, the company is a leading distributor of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), offering cylinder and bulk gas solutions for residential, commercial and industrial use across urban and rural regions.

In the specialty chemicals arena, Ultrapar controls Oxiteno, which produces surfactants and specialty chemical formulations for industries such as personal care, oil and gas, agrochemicals and coatings.