Ultrapar Participacoes S.A. (NYSE:UGP) Short Interest Update

Ultrapar Participacoes S.A. (NYSE:UGP) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totaling 1,675,114 shares, a decline of 53.5% from the May 31st total of 3,604,343 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,079,679 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.5 days. Approximately 0.2% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ultrapar Participacoes

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Ultrapar Participacoes by 10.9% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 70,838 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $218,000 after acquiring an additional 6,947 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Ultrapar Participacoes by 75.2% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,878,904 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $6,163,000 after purchasing an additional 806,463 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Ultrapar Participacoes by 100.8% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 22,832 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 11,461 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Ultrapar Participacoes by 80.9% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 177,847 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $583,000 after purchasing an additional 79,524 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in Ultrapar Participacoes by 26.6% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 66,997 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $220,000 after buying an additional 14,060 shares during the period. 3.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UGP has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. HSBC downgraded shares of Ultrapar Participacoes from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $4.90 to $6.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ultrapar Participacoes from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Ultrapar Participacoes from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $3.10 to $5.60 in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Ultrapar Participacoes in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Ultrapar Participacoes from $6.30 to $6.80 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ultrapar Participacoes presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $6.20.

Ultrapar Participacoes Price Performance

UGP stock traded down $0.04 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $4.99. The company had a trading volume of 3,214,735 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,734,580. The company has a market capitalization of $5.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.71. Ultrapar Participacoes has a 12-month low of $2.80 and a 12-month high of $6.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $5.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $5.00.

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.