UGI (NYSE:UGI) Shares Cross Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

UGI Corporation (NYSE:UGI)’s share price passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Friday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $35.91 and traded as high as $38.64. UGI shares last traded at $38.3180, with a volume of 1,182,651 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on UGI shares. UBS Group reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of UGI in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Wall Street Zen cut UGI from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of UGI in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of UGI from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of UGI from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.50.

UGI Stock Down 0.2%

The company has a market cap of $8.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.14 and a beta of 1.08. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average price is $38.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $35.90.

UGI (NYSE:UGI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by ($0.24). The business had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.49 billion. UGI had a net margin of 8.17% and a return on equity of 14.46%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.37 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that UGI Corporation will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current year.

UGI Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be paid a $0.375 dividend. 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 3.9%. UGI’s payout ratio is presently 55.35%.

Insider Activity at UGI

In other UGI news, CAO Jean Felix Tematio sold 12,840 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.07, for a total transaction of $488,818.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 6,952 shares in the company, valued at approximately $264,662.64. This represents a 64.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Joseph L. Hartz sold 15,000 shares of UGI stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.68, for a total value of $580,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 33,492 shares in the company, valued at $1,295,470.56. This represents a 30.93% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 32,840 shares of company stock valued at $1,261,269 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its stake in UGI by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 3,191,444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $119,456,000 after acquiring an additional 327,511 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of UGI in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,708,000. Colonial Trust Co SC bought a new stake in shares of UGI in the fourth quarter worth $75,000. Pinebridge Investments LLC acquired a new position in UGI during the fourth quarter worth $1,748,000. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in UGI by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 4,992 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $187,000 after purchasing an additional 724 shares in the last quarter. 82.34% of the stock is currently owned by 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.