Insider Selling: Ultrapar Participacoes (NYSE:UGP) CEO Sells $55,440.00 in Stock

Ultrapar Participacoes S.A. (NYSE:UGP) CEO Decio De Sampaio Amaral sold 8,000 shares of Ultrapar Participacoes stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.93, for a total value of $55,440.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 151,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,049,423.76. This represents a 5.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Ultrapar Participacoes Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of Ultrapar Participacoes stock opened at $7.29 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $6.20 and a 200-day moving average of $5.66. The stock has a market cap of $8.13 billion, a PE ratio of 11.95, a PEG ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 0.73. Ultrapar Participacoes S.A. has a 52-week low of $3.60 and a 52-week high of $7.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.64.

Ultrapar Participacoes (NYSE:UGP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The oil and gas company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.01. Ultrapar Participacoes had a net margin of 2.28% and a return on equity of 18.84%. The business had revenue of $8 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.18 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ultrapar Participacoes S.A. will post 0.8 EPS for the current year.

Ultrapar Participacoes Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.1932 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 26th. This represents a dividend yield of 599.0%. Ultrapar Participacoes’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.18%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UGP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Ultrapar Participacoes from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ultrapar Participacoes from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Ultrapar Participacoes from $7.20 to $7.90 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Ultrapar Participacoes from $6.50 to $5.80 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. Finally, Bank of America raised Ultrapar Participacoes from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $6.80 to $7.40 in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ultrapar Participacoes currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $6.54.

Institutional Trading of Ultrapar Participacoes

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in UGP. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ultrapar Participacoes by 10.9% during 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 in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake 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 worth $6,163,000 after purchasing an additional 806,463 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Ultrapar Participacoes by 100.8% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 22,832 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 11,461 shares during 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 valued at $583,000 after purchasing an additional 79,524 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Ultrapar Participacoes by 26.6% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 66,997 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $220,000 after purchasing an additional 14,060 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 3.58% of the company’s stock.

Ultrapar Participacoes Company Profile

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.