UGI Corporation (NYSE:UGI) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

UGI Corporation (NYSE:UGI) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $44.50.

A number of analysts have commented on UGI shares. UBS Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of UGI in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Mizuho raised their price objective on UGI from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised UGI from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th.

UGI Trading Up 1.5%

NYSE UGI opened at $36.51 on Wednesday. UGI has a 12-month low of $29.03 and a 12-month high of $41.34. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The stock has a market cap of $7.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.47 and a beta of 1.08.

UGI (NYSE:UGI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by ($0.24). UGI had a net margin of 8.17% and a return on equity of 14.46%. The company had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.49 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.37 earnings per share. UGI’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that UGI will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current year.

UGI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be given a dividend of $0.375 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.1%. UGI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Jean Felix Tematio sold 12,840 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.07, for a total value of $488,818.80. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 6,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $264,662.64. This represents a 64.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in UGI by 34,940.4% in the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 2,576,169 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $93,824,000 after purchasing an additional 2,568,817 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 116,372 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $25,971,000 after buying an additional 115,409 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of UGI in the fourth quarter worth about $2,708,000. Finally, Tudor Investment Corp ET AL boosted its stake in shares of UGI by 234.1% in the third quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 95,545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,178,000 after buying an additional 66,946 shares during the last quarter. 82.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.