UGI (NYSE:UGI) Raised to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of UGI (NYSE:UGI) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Friday.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on UGI. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of UGI from $28.00 to $27.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Friday. TheStreet upgraded UGI from a d+ rating to a c- rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on UGI from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th.

UGI Price Performance

Shares of UGI stock opened at $24.30 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 0.98. UGI has a fifty-two week low of $20.19 and a fifty-two week high of $32.50. The firm has a market cap of $5.09 billion, a P/E ratio of -59.27 and a beta of 1.13. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $24.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.50.

UGI (NYSE:UGI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The utilities provider reported $1.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.32. UGI had a negative net margin of 0.89% and a positive return on equity of 16.18%. The business had revenue of $2.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.68 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that UGI will post 2.91 earnings per share for the current year.

UGI Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.375 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.17%. UGI’s payout ratio is -365.84%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UGI. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its stake in shares of UGI by 503.8% in the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 2,904,763 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $66,810,000 after acquiring an additional 2,423,713 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in UGI during the 4th quarter valued at about $46,034,000. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in UGI by 67.0% during the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,372,182 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $54,560,000 after purchasing an additional 951,405 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its holdings in UGI by 309.1% in the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,175,347 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,033,000 after buying an additional 888,072 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of UGI by 3.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,271,972 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $604,255,000 after buying an additional 781,929 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.34% of the company’s stock.

About UGI

UGI Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, distributes, stores, transports, and markets energy products and related services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through four segments: AmeriGas Propane, UGI International, Midstream & Marketing, and UGI Utilities. It distributes propane to approximately 1.3 million residential, commercial/industrial, motor fuel, agricultural, and wholesale customers through 1,400 propane distribution locations.