StockNews.com Downgrades UGI (NYSE:UGI) to Hold

UGI (NYSE:UGI) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Thursday.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on UGI. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded UGI from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $27.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Mizuho increased their target price on UGI from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, TheStreet upgraded UGI from a “d+” rating to a “c-” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st.

UGI Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UGI opened at $25.74 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $24.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.20. UGI has a 1-year low of $20.19 and a 1-year high of $35.18. The firm has a market cap of $5.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.70 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59.

UGI (NYSE:UGI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.08. UGI had a positive return on equity of 14.09% and a negative net margin of 5.48%. The business had revenue of $2.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.98 billion. Analysts anticipate that UGI will post 2.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UGI

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UGI. US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in UGI by 35.2% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 16,028 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $580,000 after buying an additional 4,176 shares during the period. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC boosted its stake in UGI by 13.8% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 13,366 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $484,000 after buying an additional 1,618 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in UGI by 7.9% during the first quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 74,002 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,704,000 after buying an additional 5,396 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in UGI by 23.0% during the first quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 38,633 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,399,000 after buying an additional 7,225 shares during the period. Finally, Great West Life Assurance Co. Can boosted its stake in UGI by 7.3% during the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 173,055 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,489,000 after buying an additional 11,826 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.34% of the company’s stock.

UGI Company Profile

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.