Wall Street Zen Downgrades Ultrapar Participacoes (NYSE:UGP) to Buy

Ultrapar Participacoes (NYSE:UGP) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Ultrapar Participacoes from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $5.40 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Ultrapar Participacoes from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ultrapar Participacoes presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $5.40.

Ultrapar Participacoes Price Performance

NYSE UGP opened at $5.00 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $4.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $4.14. Ultrapar Participacoes has a 52 week low of $2.64 and a 52 week high of $5.42. The stock has a market cap of $5.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

Ultrapar Participacoes (NYSE:UGP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 11th. The oil and gas company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06 by ($0.01). Ultrapar Participacoes had a net margin of 2.13% and a return on equity of 17.12%. Analysts forecast that Ultrapar Participacoes will post 0.3 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Ultrapar Participacoes

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Ultrapar Participacoes by 14.2% during the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 21,133 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $87,000 after buying an additional 2,632 shares in the last quarter. Plan A Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ultrapar Participacoes by 32.4% in the third quarter. Plan A Wealth LLC now owns 14,056 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 3,438 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ultrapar Participacoes by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 75,215 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $308,000 after acquiring an additional 3,952 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ultrapar Participacoes by 32.3% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 19,210 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 4,688 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ultrapar Participacoes by 17.7% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 33,774 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $127,000 after acquiring an additional 5,082 shares in the last quarter. 3.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.