Brokerages Set Ultrapar Participacoes S.A. (NYSE:UGP) Target Price at $6.32

Shares of Ultrapar Participacoes S.A. (NYSE:UGP) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $6.32.

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Bank of America upgraded shares of Ultrapar Participacoes from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $6.80 to $7.40 in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Ultrapar Participacoes in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Wall Street Zen raised Ultrapar Participacoes from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. HSBC downgraded Ultrapar Participacoes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $4.90 to $6.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Ultrapar Participacoes from $7.00 to $7.20 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ultrapar Participacoes

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in UGP. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ultrapar Participacoes by 98.2% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,214,612 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $15,889,000 after acquiring an additional 2,087,852 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Ultrapar Participacoes by 117.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,084,186 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $16,745,000 after purchasing an additional 2,205,282 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ultrapar Participacoes by 10.6% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,740,700 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $20,611,000 after purchasing an additional 357,922 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ultrapar Participacoes in the third quarter valued at about $14,639,000. Finally, UBS Group AG boosted its holdings in shares of Ultrapar Participacoes by 131.9% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,890,033 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $11,849,000 after buying an additional 1,643,562 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 3.58% of the company’s stock.

Ultrapar Participacoes Stock Performance

Shares of Ultrapar Participacoes stock opened at $6.25 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $5.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The company has a market capitalization of $6.97 billion, a PE ratio of 12.49, a PEG ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 0.71. Ultrapar Participacoes has a 12 month low of $2.80 and a 12 month high of $6.28.

About Ultrapar Participacoes

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.