UGI (NYSE:UGI) Stock Lifted to Hold by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of UGI (NYSE:UGI) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report released on Sunday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

UGI has been the topic of several other reports. Huntington initiated coverage on shares of UGI in a report on Monday, September 14th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $54.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of UGI from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on UGI from $45.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 7th. Scotiabank began coverage on UGI in a report on Tuesday, September 29th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $46.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded UGI from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.80.

UGI Price Performance

Shares of UGI opened at $38.46 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $37.26 and its 200-day moving average is $36.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.25 billion, a PE ratio of 12.86 and a beta of 0.93. UGI has a fifty-two week low of $31.65 and a fifty-two week high of $41.34.

UGI (NYSE:UGI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported ($0.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.08) by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.50 billion. UGI had a return on equity of 12.80% and a net margin of 9.20%. Equities analysts forecast that UGI will post 2.81 EPS for the current year.

UGI Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th were issued a dividend of $0.3750 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. UGI’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.17%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UGI

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new stake in UGI during the second quarter worth about $73,069,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in UGI by 75.7% during the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,335,508 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $46,130,000 after buying an additional 575,239 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in UGI during the second quarter worth about $12,408,000. Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in UGI during the second quarter worth about $11,308,000. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia bought a new position in UGI in the 2nd quarter valued at about $10,515,000. Institutional investors own 82.34% of the company’s stock.

UGI Company Profile

UGI Corporation is a diversified energy company headquartered in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. Through its subsidiaries, the company distributes and markets natural gas, propane, electricity and related energy products to residential, commercial, industrial and institutional customers.

UGI Utilities operates regulated natural gas and electric distribution businesses in Pennsylvania and provides natural gas, electric and related services to customers in the region. The company also owns AmeriGas, one of the largest retail propane distributors in the United States, serving households, businesses, agricultural customers and other end users through a nationwide distribution network.

UGI has additional energy operations in Europe through its international LPG businesses and participates in energy marketing, midstream and related activities.