UGI (NYSE:UGI) Trading 12.7% Higher – Time to Buy?

UGI Corporation (NYSE:UGI) was up 12.7% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $37.20 and last traded at $39.5290. 285,910 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 1,800,441 shares. The stock had previously closed at $35.09.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

UGI Stock Up 11.2%

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $35.42 and a 200-day moving average of $36.19. The firm has a market cap of $8.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.09 and a beta of 0.93. 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 (NYSE:UGI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported ($0.20) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.08) by ($0.12). UGI had a net margin of 9.20% and a return on equity of 12.80%. The firm had revenue of $1.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that UGI Corporation will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UGI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. UGI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.17%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Kathleen Shea-Ballay sold 25,360 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 $852,603.20. The trade was a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UGI

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its stake in UGI by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 3,559 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $133,000 after acquiring an additional 254 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of UGI by 4.1% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,733 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $282,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of UGI by 45.6% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,268 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 397 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in UGI by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,842 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $368,000 after purchasing an additional 456 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in UGI by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 4,992 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $187,000 after buying an additional 724 shares during the period. 82.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.