UGI (NYSE:UGI) Stock Crosses Above 200-Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

UGI Corporation (NYSE:UGI) shares passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $36.13 and traded as high as $36.63. UGI shares last traded at $36.3060, with a volume of 1,420,838 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on UGI shares. Mizuho upped their target price on UGI from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. UBS Group restated an “outperform” rating on shares of UGI in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of UGI from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of UGI in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of UGI from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, UGI has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.50.

UGI Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.13. The stock has a market cap of $7.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.40 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.78.

UGI (NYSE:UGI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The utilities provider reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by ($0.24). The firm had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.49 billion. UGI had a net margin of 8.17% and a return on equity of 14.46%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.37 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that UGI Corporation will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current year.

UGI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be paid a $0.375 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. UGI’s payout ratio is presently 55.35%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Trading of UGI

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in UGI. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in UGI by 34,940.4% during the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 2,576,169 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $93,824,000 after purchasing an additional 2,568,817 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in UGI by 385.0% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 164,791 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,002,000 after buying an additional 130,811 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in UGI by 14.3% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 930,787 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $30,781,000 after buying an additional 116,372 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in UGI by 17.2% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 785,327 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,971,000 after buying an additional 115,409 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of UGI during the 4th quarter worth about $2,708,000. 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.