UGI (NYSE:UGI) Sees Large Volume Increase

UGI Co. (NYSE:UGI) saw strong trading volume on Friday . 4,063,356 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 105% from the previous session’s volume of 1,982,680 shares.The stock last traded at $25.31 and had previously closed at $23.79.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. TheStreet upgraded shares of UGI from a “d+” rating to a “c-” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of UGI from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $27.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. StockNews.com lowered shares of UGI from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of UGI from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday.

UGI Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $5.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.45 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.98. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $24.34 and its 200-day moving average is $23.18.

UGI (NYSE:UGI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $2.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.98 billion. UGI had a negative net margin of 5.48% and a positive return on equity of 14.09%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that UGI Co. will post 2.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UGI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. UGI’s dividend payout ratio is -68.18%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Allstate Corp raised its position in shares of UGI by 1.9% during the first quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 16,470 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $597,000 after buying an additional 313 shares during the last quarter. Eaton Vance Management raised its position in shares of UGI by 0.4% during the first quarter. Eaton Vance Management now owns 82,676 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,995,000 after buying an additional 344 shares during the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its stake in UGI by 6.4% in the second quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 6,444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $249,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in UGI by 35.3% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 391 shares during the period. Finally, Stolper Co increased its stake in UGI by 0.5% in the first quarter. Stolper Co now owns 78,764 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,933,000 after acquiring an additional 430 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.34% of the company’s stock.

UGI Company Profile

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.