EP Wealth Advisors LLC Makes New $634,000 Investment in UGI Corporation $UGI

EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in UGI Corporation (NYSE:UGI) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 18,342 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $634,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in UGI. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of UGI by 45.6% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,268 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 397 shares during the period. Torren Management LLC bought a new position in UGI in the 4th quarter worth about $65,000. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd bought a new position in UGI in the 2nd quarter worth about $71,000. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in UGI during the 2nd quarter valued at about $71,000. Finally, Colonial Trust Co SC purchased a new position in UGI during the 4th quarter valued at about $75,000. 82.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

UGI Price Performance

NYSE:UGI opened at $38.18 on Tuesday. UGI Corporation has a 52-week low of $31.62 and a 52-week high of $41.34. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $35.76 and a 200 day moving average of $36.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.77 and a beta of 0.93.

UGI (NYSE:UGI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported ($0.20) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.08) by ($0.12). UGI had a return on equity of 12.80% and a net margin of 9.20%.The business had revenue of $1.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. On average, research analysts expect that UGI Corporation will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UGI Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.375 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. UGI’s payout ratio is presently 50.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling at UGI

In related news, insider Kathleen Shea-Ballay sold 25,360 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.62, for a total value of $852,603.20. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 25,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $852,603.20. This represents a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen cut UGI from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of UGI from $45.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of UGI from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $40.00 target price (down from $45.00) on shares of UGI in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of UGI from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $42.00.

UGI 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.