Diamond Hill Capital Management LLC Investment Advisor Decreases Position in UGI Corporation $UGI

Diamond Hill Capital Management LLC Investment Advisor decreased its holdings in UGI Corporation (NYSE:UGI) by 7.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,109,276 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 95,637 shares during the quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management LLC Investment Advisor’s holdings in UGI were worth $38,314,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UGI. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in UGI by 9.2% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 78,715 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,603,000 after acquiring an additional 6,649 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of UGI by 14.3% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 930,787 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $30,781,000 after acquiring an additional 116,372 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in shares of 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. Focus Partners Wealth raised its position in shares of UGI by 92.6% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 22,584 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $747,000 after purchasing an additional 10,861 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in UGI by 15.6% in the 2nd quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 28,359 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,033,000 after purchasing an additional 3,825 shares in the last quarter. 82.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on UGI shares. Zacks Research downgraded shares of UGI from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of UGI from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $40.00 price objective (down from $45.00) on shares of UGI in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on UGI from $45.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut UGI from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, UGI currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $42.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other UGI news, insider Kathleen Shea-Ballay sold 25,360 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.62, for a total transaction of $852,603.20. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 25,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $852,603.20. This trade represents a 50.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

UGI Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE UGI opened at $35.38 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. UGI Corporation has a 12 month low of $31.62 and a 12 month high of $41.34. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.22. The stock has a market cap of $7.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.83 and a beta of 0.93.

UGI (NYSE:UGI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported ($0.20) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.08) by ($0.12). The business had revenue of $1.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.50 billion. UGI had a net margin of 9.20% and a return on equity of 12.80%. As a group, analysts predict that UGI Corporation will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

UGI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a $0.375 dividend. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. UGI’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.17%.

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.