UGI (NYSE:UGI) Share Price Crosses Above 200 Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

UGI Corporation (NYSE:UGI)’s stock price crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $35.42 and traded as high as $37.61. UGI shares last traded at $37.5450, with a volume of 1,129,637 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on UGI. UBS Group reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of UGI in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of UGI in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of UGI in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Mizuho raised their price objective on UGI from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of UGI from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, UGI has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.50.

UGI Stock Up 1.0%

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $37.49 and a 200 day moving average of $35.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.07 and a beta of 1.07.

UGI (NYSE:UGI) last announced its earnings results on Friday, November 21st. The utilities provider reported ($0.23) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.52 billion. UGI had a return on equity of 15.07% and a net margin of 9.30%.The business’s revenue was down 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($1.27) EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that UGI Corporation will post 3.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UGI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 1st. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th were paid a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. UGI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling at UGI

In other news, insider Joseph L. Hartz sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.68, for a total transaction of $580,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 33,492 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,295,470.56. This represents a 30.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of UGI during the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Bare Financial Services Inc grew its stake in UGI by 103.8% in the 3rd quarter. Bare Financial Services Inc now owns 1,345 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 685 shares in the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of UGI during the 2nd quarter valued at $86,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC grew its position in UGI by 2,455.7% in the third quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 3,348 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $111,000 after acquiring an additional 3,217 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its position in UGI by 2,246.7% during the second quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 3,215 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $117,000 after purchasing an additional 3,078 shares in the last quarter. 82.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

UGI Company Profile

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.