Analysts Set UGI Corporation (NYSE:UGI) Target Price at $44.50

Shares of UGI Corporation (NYSE:UGI) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $44.50.

Separately, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of UGI from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th.

UGI Trading Up 3.1%

Shares of UGI stock opened at $37.25 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $37.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.00 billion, a PE ratio of 13.75 and a beta of 1.05. UGI has a 1-year low of $31.62 and a 1-year high of $41.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.64.

UGI (NYSE:UGI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.26 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.49 billion. UGI had a return on equity of 14.46% and a net margin of 8.17%.The company’s revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.37 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that UGI will post 3.05 earnings per share for the current year.

UGI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th were paid a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 16th. UGI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling at UGI

In other news, CAO Jean Felix Tematio sold 12,840 shares of UGI stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.07, for a total transaction of $488,818.80. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 6,952 shares in the company, valued at $264,662.64. This trade represents a 64.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wesbanco Bank Inc. raised its position in shares of UGI by 127.1% during the 1st quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 17,689 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $644,000 after purchasing an additional 9,900 shares during the period. Foster & Motley Inc. raised its position in shares of UGI by 9.2% during the 1st quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 180,398 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,570,000 after purchasing an additional 15,211 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of UGI by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,733 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $282,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in shares of UGI by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 3,191,444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $119,456,000 after purchasing an additional 327,511 shares during the period. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of UGI during the 4th quarter valued at $2,708,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.34% of the company’s stock.

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.