Short Interest in Ultrapar Participações S.A. (NYSE:UGP) Drops By 41.0%

Ultrapar Participações S.A. (NYSE:UGP) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 2,950,000 shares, a decrease of 41.0% from the February 13th total of 5,000,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,620,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.8 days. Currently, 0.3% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Institutional Trading of Ultrapar Participações

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ultrapar Participações by 74.3% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,513,800 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $9,241,000 after purchasing an additional 1,497,300 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in shares of Ultrapar Participações by 18.7% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,821,125 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $7,420,000 after purchasing an additional 444,724 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ultrapar Participações by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 1,811,400 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $4,764,000 after purchasing an additional 115,600 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ultrapar Participações by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,776,107 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $4,671,000 after purchasing an additional 108,213 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP raised its holdings in shares of Ultrapar Participações by 58.2% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 1,654,373 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $4,351,000 after purchasing an additional 608,951 shares during the period. 3.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on UGP. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Ultrapar Participações from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. HSBC upgraded shares of Ultrapar Participações from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Ultrapar Participações from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $4.10 to $3.20 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Ultrapar Participações to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Ultrapar Participações from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $3.20.

Ultrapar Participações Stock Up 6.5 %

NYSE UGP traded up $0.19 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $3.03. 5,018,285 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,483,898. Ultrapar Participações has a 12 month low of $2.53 and a 12 month high of $5.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.37 billion, a PE ratio of 6.58, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a 50 day moving average of $2.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $3.24.

Ultrapar Participações Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.0774 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a dividend yield of 3.8%. Ultrapar Participações’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.33%.

Ultrapar Participações Company Profile

Ultrapar Participações SA, through its subsidiaries, operates in the energy and infrastructure business in Brazil. The company distributes liquefied petroleum gas to residential, commercial, and industrial consumers, in addition to renewable electricity and compressed natural gas. It also operates in the distribution and marketing of gasoline, ethanol, diesel, fuel oil, kerosene, natural gas for vehicles, and lubricants; and holds AmPm convenience stores and provides JetOil lubricant services.