Ultrapar Participacoes (NYSE:UGP) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

Ultrapar Participacoes S.A. (NYSE:UGP) gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday after The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on the stock from $6.50 to $5.80. The stock had previously closed at $6.70, but opened at $6.38. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Ultrapar Participacoes shares last traded at $6.4020, with a volume of 226,513 shares.

UGP has been the subject of a number of other reports. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Ultrapar Participacoes from $7.00 to $7.20 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Bank of America upgraded Ultrapar Participacoes from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $6.80 to $7.40 in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen raised Ultrapar Participacoes from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Ultrapar Participacoes from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, August 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ultrapar Participacoes presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $6.40.

Institutional Trading of Ultrapar Participacoes

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Corient Private Wealth LP grew its position in shares of Ultrapar Participacoes by 2.7% in the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 62,497 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $314,000 after purchasing an additional 1,651 shares during the last quarter. Nykredit A S acquired a new position in shares of Ultrapar Participacoes during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $93,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in shares of Ultrapar Participacoes during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $205,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Ultrapar Participacoes by 233.0% in the 2nd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 63,803 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $320,000 after buying an additional 44,645 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Optiver Holding B.V. lifted its stake in Ultrapar Participacoes by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 453,455 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,499,000 after buying an additional 13,203 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 3.58% of the company’s stock.

Ultrapar Participacoes Trading Down 0.5%

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $5.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5.59. The stock has a market cap of $7.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.52, a PEG ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 0.70. 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.01. Ultrapar Participacoes had a return on equity of 18.84% and a net margin of 2.28%.The company had revenue of $8 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.18 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ultrapar Participacoes S.A. will post 0.78 EPS for the current year.

Ultrapar Participacoes Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 26th will be paid a $0.1932 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 26th. This represents a yield of 599.0%. Ultrapar Participacoes’s payout ratio is presently 50.82%.

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.