UGI Corporation (NYSE:UGI) Receives $44.50 Consensus PT from Analysts

Shares of UGI Corporation (NYSE:UGI) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the five ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $44.50.

A number of research firms have recently commented on UGI. UBS Group restated an “outperform” rating on shares of UGI in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Weiss Ratings upgraded UGI from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on UGI from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th.

UGI Price Performance

NYSE UGI opened at $36.69 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. UGI has a 12-month low of $29.03 and a 12-month high of $41.34. The company has a market capitalization of $7.88 billion, a PE ratio of 13.54 and a beta of 1.08. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $37.78 and its 200-day moving average is $36.22.

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

UGI Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.375 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. UGI’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.35%.

Insider Activity at UGI

In related news, CAO Jean Felix Tematio sold 12,840 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.07, for a total value of $488,818.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 6,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $264,662.64. This trade represents a 64.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of UGI

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UGI. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its stake in shares of UGI by 34,940.4% during the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 2,576,169 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $93,824,000 after purchasing an additional 2,568,817 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in UGI by 14.3% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 930,787 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,781,000 after purchasing an additional 116,372 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in UGI by 17.2% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 785,327 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,971,000 after purchasing an additional 115,409 shares during the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in UGI during the fourth quarter worth about $2,708,000. Finally, Tudor Investment Corp ET AL grew its holdings in UGI by 234.1% during the third quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 95,545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,178,000 after purchasing an additional 66,946 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.34% of the company’s stock.

About UGI

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.