UGI Corporation (NYSE:UGI) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

UGI Corporation (NYSE:UGI) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the five ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $44.50.

UGI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded UGI from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Mizuho raised their target price on UGI from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of UGI in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of UGI from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 22nd. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of UGI in a research report on Monday, December 15th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other UGI news, insider Joseph L. Hartz sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.68, for a total transaction of $580,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 33,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,295,470.56. This represents a 30.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in UGI. Horizon Investments LLC purchased a new stake in UGI in the 4th quarter worth about $93,000. Torren Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of UGI in the fourth quarter worth about $65,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its position in shares of UGI by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 3,559 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $133,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of UGI by 43.2% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 12,110 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $453,000 after buying an additional 3,652 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Burns Matteson Capital Management LLC bought a new position in UGI in the 4th quarter worth approximately $600,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.34% of the company’s stock.

UGI Stock Up 0.2%

UGI opened at $40.18 on Tuesday. UGI has a fifty-two week low of $29.03 and a fifty-two week high of $41.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.92 and a beta of 1.08. The company’s 50-day moving average is $38.22 and its 200 day moving average is $35.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.70.

UGI (NYSE:UGI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 21st. The utilities provider reported ($0.23) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by $0.21. UGI had a net margin of 9.30% and a return on equity of 15.07%. The firm had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($1.27) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that UGI will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UGI Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 1st. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th were issued a $0.375 dividend. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. UGI’s payout ratio is 48.23%.

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.